Two Chinese Firms Indicted in Fentanyl Precursor Scheme

A federal grand jury in Dayton, Ohio, indicted two Chinese pharmaceutical companies and six Chinese nationals on charges related to trafficking fentanyl precursors and laundering money through cryptocurrency, authorities announced this week. The case, part of the FBI's Operation Box Cutter aimed at disrupting international drug networks, also accuses three of the defendants of providing material support to the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican group designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

The indictment targets Shandong Believe Chemical Company Pte Ltd. and Shandong Ranhang Biotechnology Co. Ltd., along with individuals Hanson Zhao, Gao Yanpeng, Xia Yi, Zhang Jian, Wang Zhaolan, and Zhang Chunhai. Prosecutors allege that from July 2025 through January 2026, the defendants marketed and sold chemical precursors and medetomidine, a potent animal tranquilizer not approved for human use, to drug traffickers in the United States and abroad. Medetomidine, which is up to 200 times stronger than morphine, served as a cutting agent that could stretch one kilogram of fentanyl to produce at least 20 times more street-level doses, potentially yielding millions of...