Chinese National sentenced for role in importing powerful opioids into U.S., Ohio

A Chinese national who was living in Massachusetts will spend nearly six years in prison for distributing opioids and other drugs that were shipped from China to the United States and ultimately Ohio.

Bin Wang, 43, was sentenced to 71 months in prison. He pleaded guilty this summer in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to 10 counts, including drug conspiracy, conspiracy to import a controlled substance and drug distribution.

Wang operated Cambridge Chemicals, Wonda Science, and other companies from a warehouse in Woburn, Mass. Authorities said that Wang received the drugs from China before they were ultimately shipped to Ohio.

Law enforcement began investigating shipments of carfentanil, fentanyl and other opioids in August 2016, after a series of fatal overdoses in Northeast Ohio, according to court documents.

That investigation led them to several Chinese websites, which they learned were selling kilogram amounts of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, which were shipped via private carriers. One of the websites was used to purchase acetylfentanyl that caused the overdose deaths of two Summit County residents in 2015, according to court documents.

The leaders of the Chinese drug organization, Fujing Zheng, aka Gordon Jin, and his father Guanghua Zheng, both reside in Shanghai, China. They have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to import controlled substances into the United States, operating a continued criminal enterprise, money laundering and other crimes.

“Wang was responsible for receiving shipments of deadly opioids and other drugs from China and then sending them to Ohio and throughout the United States,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “We will continue to work with law enforcement to stop the steady stream of drugs from overseas that is killing our friends and neighbors.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Timothy Plancon said the importation of opioids and other synthetic drugs from China has played a significant role in the opioid epidemic currently gripping the United States.

“Over 60,000 people a year die from drug overdoses in this country, and halting all methods of drug trafficking, including by way of the Internet is a top priority of the DEA,” Plancon said. “This investigation makes clear that geographic and technological hurdles will not stop DEA and our partners from bringing to justice those responsible for the illegal distribution of drugs in the U.S.”