China sentences 9 fentanyl traffickers after US tip
XINGTAI (AP) — A Chinese court yesterday sentenced nine fentanyl traffickers in a case that culminates a rare collaboration between Chinese and US law enforcement to crack down on global networks that manufacture and distribute lethal synthetic opioids.
Liu Yong was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, while Jiang Juhua and Wang Fengxi were sentenced to life in prison.
Six other members of the operation received lesser sentences, ranging from six months to 10 years.
Death sentences are almost always commuted to life in prison after the reprieve.
Working off a 2017 tip from the US Department of Homeland Security about an online drug vendor who went by the name Diana, Chinese police busted a drug ring based in the northern Chinese city of Xingtai that shipped synthetic drugs illicitly to the US and other countries from a gritty clandestine laboratory.
They arrested more than 20 suspects and seized 11.9 kilograms of fentanyl and 19.1 kilograms of other drugs.
In form, the enterprise resembled a small business, with a perky sales force that spoke passable English, online marketing, contract manufacturing and a sophisticated export operation, according to US and Chinese law enforcement.
The business, however, had grave implications.
Police photographs of the seizure show a dingy, chaotic scene, with open containers of unidentified chemicals and Chinese police in rubber gloves and breathing masks.
Liu and Jiang were accused of manufacturing and trafficking illicit drugs. The others were accused of trafficking.
Chinese officials said the Xingtai case was one of three fentanyl trafficking networks they are pursuing based on US intelligence, but declined to discuss the details of the other cases, which are ongoing.
Austin Moore, an attaché to China for the US Homeland Security Department, said the Xingtai case was “an important step” showing that Chinese and US investigators are able to collaborate across international borders.
Moore said Chinese police identified more than 50 US residents who tried to buy fentanyl from the Xingtai organization.
He added that those leads prompted over 25 domestic investigations and have already resulted in three major criminal arrests and indictments in New York and Oregon.