Posted on: February 03, 2025 01:00 PM

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Two chinese chemical company executives convicted and multiple websites and cryptocurrency accounts seized in connection with fentanyl precursor importation and money laundering schemes

AMARVEL BIOTECH was a chemical manufacturer based in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province, China, that exported vast quantities of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues. A synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin, fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49.  Fentanyl analogues, similar in chemical makeup and effect to fentanyl, can be even more potent and lethal than fentanyl.  Fentanyl and its analogues have devastated communities across the U.S. and are fueling the ongoing opioid epidemic, which killed at least 105,263 Americans between February 2022 and January 2023 alone.

During the course of an undercover investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), AMARVEL BIOTECH and its principal executive, WANG, its marketing manager, CHEN, and a sales representative, FNU LNU, a/k/a “Er Yang,” a/k/a “Anita” (“YANG”), shipped more than 200 kilograms from China to the United States of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and its analogues.  AMARVEL BIOTECH, WANG, CHEN, and YANG shipped the precursors to the U.S. after being told that the chemicals would be used to produce fentanyl in New York, and they agreed to supply multi-ton shipments of fentanyl precursors despite being told that Americans had died after consuming fentanyl made from the chemicals that the defendants had sold.

AMARVEL BIOTECH openly advertised online its sale of precursor chemicals for use in manufacturing fentanyl.  Through its website and a host of other storefront sites, AMARVEL BIOTECH targeted precursor chemical customers in Mexico, where drug cartels operate clandestine laboratories and distribute finished fentanyl into and throughout the United States, including by advertising fentanyl precursors as a “Mexico hot sale,” guaranteeing “100% stealth shipping” abroad, and posting to its websites documentation of AMARVEL BIOTECH shipping chemicals to Culiacan, the home city of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the dominant drug trafficking organizations in the Western Hemisphere and which is largely responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the U.S. in recent years.  Below is a screenshot of one of AMARVEL BIOTECH’s store pages for a fentanyl precursor:

AMARVEL BIOTECH also endeavored to thwart law enforcement interdiction of its precursor chemical shipments.  AMARVEL BIOTECH advertised online the business’s ability to use deceptive packaging—such as packaging indicating the contents are dog food, nuts, or motor oil—to ensure “safe” delivery of the illicit contents such shipments.  An example of one of AMARVEL BIOTECH’s online advertisements are shown below:

WANG, 36, of China, and CHEN, 32, of China, were each convicted of:  one count of conspiracy to import the fentanyl precursor chemical 1-boc-4-AP, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it will be used to manufacture fentanyl, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  WANG was also convicted of: one count of importation of the fentanyl precursor chemical 1-boc-4-AP, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it will be used to manufacture fentanyl, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of importation of the methamphetamine precursor chemical methylamine, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  WANG and CHEN were each acquitted of one count of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and a fentanyl-related substance.

The maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here

Ms. Sassoon praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit.  Ms. Sassoon also thanked the DEA Bangkok Country Office, DEA Wellington Country Office, DEA Beijing Country Office, DEA Honolulu District Office, DEA New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) Strike Force, DEA Riverside District Office, DEA Special Testing Laboratory, the DEA Southwest Laboratory, the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau, the Fiji Police Force Narcotic Bureau, the Fiji Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii for their assistance.

From DOJ