Four chemical companies based in China and eight Chinese nationals have been charged with trafficking chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a drug that has been linked to thousands of deaths in the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the indictments on Friday, as part of their strategy to target the supply chain of the drug. Two of the defendants, the principal executive and the marketing manager of one Chinese firm, have been arrested overseas and taken to Hawaii for a court appearance. They will then be brought to Manhattan to face prosecution. The companies allegedly advertised the chemicals online and packaged them to resemble dog food, nuts, or motor oil.

The firms also chemically disguised their goods in the lab and even provided instructions on how to remove the disguises. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said the companies had shipped more than 200 kilograms of precursor chemicals to the United States. The two Chinese executives taken into custody worked for Wuhan-based Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co., which had boasted of providing “100 percent stealth shipping” on its website. Three other Chinese companies and five employees were named in indictments unsealed in Brooklyn federal court. Breon S. Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the companies knew the chemicals would be used to make fentanyl, similar to selling components for a bomb knowing it would be used to make an explosive. Anne Milgram, the administrator of the DEA, called fentanyl “the greatest threat to Americans today”, noting that it can be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

In 2021, overdoses in New York City had skyrocketed by 78 percent compared to 2019. The DEA has also been pursuing dealers across the United States who sell fentanyl on the streets, resulting in more than 3,300 arrests and the seizure of nearly 44 million fentanyl pills and more than 6,500 pounds of powder. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken raised the issue of fentanyl control during his visit to Beijing this week, proposing the establishment of a working group to “shut off the flow” of precursor chemicals. It is yet to be seen if the two nations will be able to cooperate on this issue.