The announcement was made with great fanfare by Attorney General Merrick Garland during a press conference on Friday, June 23: four Chinese companies have been indicted in the United States in connection with trafficking chemicals used to make fentanyl, a dangerous opiate.
Eight employees and managers of these companies are also being prosecuted, and two of them have been arrested, he added, stressing that this case was a “first” for American justice.
One of these companies is accused of having, on its own, “smuggled more than 200 kilos of precursor chemicals into the United States for the purpose of manufacturing more than 50 kilos of fentanyl, an amount sufficient to kill 25 million Americans “, he underlined.
Fifty times more potent than heroin
Fentanyl, a synthetic opiate fifty times more potent than heroin, is now the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 49.
While China banned fentanyl exports to the United States in 2019, a decision hailed by Donald Trump’s administration at the time, experts say the country has continued to ship fentanyl precursor chemicals, among others to Mexico and Central America, where cartels manufacture the drug before delivering it to the United States.
In the past, Beijing has denied any responsibility for the fentanyl overdose crisis in the United States, instead blaming American society and its pharmaceutical companies.
In the United States, deaths linked to opiate overdoses have jumped in recent years, going from 69,000 in 2020 to 81,000 in 2021 and 110,000 in 2022. Recently, Washington had already sanctioned several Chinese companies accused of having a role in drug trafficking.