The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced indictments against six Chinese nationals and two China-based pharmaceutical companies for allegedly selling and delivering chemical precursors used to manufacture fentanyl, which was intended to be smuggled into the United States. The charges, stemming from the FBI-led Operation Box Cutter, also implicate the defendants in forging an alliance with Mexico's Gulf Cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The indicted companies, Shandong Believe Chemical Company and Shandong Ranhang Biotechnology, along with individuals Hanson Zhao, Gao Yanpeng, Xia Yi, Zhang Jian, Wang Zhoalan, and Zhang Chunhai, face charges for their roles in soliciting, negotiating, and securing payments for illegal cutting agents. From July 2025 through January 2026, these companies allegedly marketed, sold, and delivered chemical precursors to domestic and foreign drug traffickers for fentanyl production destined for the U.S.
Cartel Collaboration and Cryptocurrency Payments
Three defendants are accused of selling chemical precursors and medetomidine, an animal tranquilizer, to a member of the Gulf Cartel. Payments for these agents were directed through cryptocurrency transfers to wallets linked to foreign financial institutions.
The FBI's collaboration with China's Ministry of Public Security provided critical intelligence that advanced the investigation, resulting in these historic indictments.
Fentanyl precursors are often cut with substances like medetomidine, which can increase the yield of a single kilogram of fentanyl by twenty-fold, producing millions of doses for street-level sales. This operation underscores the FBI's commitment to disrupting the global fentanyl supply chain and addressing the crisis at its source, beyond the U.S. southern border.