• The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday filed charges against four Chinese chemical manufacturers and eight Chinese nationals, accusing them of crimes related to the production, distribution, and sales of the deadly drug fentanyl.
• The Justice Department said in a release that it had arrested two individuals and unsealed three indictments in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, charging the Chinese companies and their employees with a number of crimes.
• The indictments allege that the defendants violated U.S. federal laws by knowingly manufacturing, marketing, selling, and supplying precursor chemicals for fentanyl production in the United States.
• Fentanyl and its analogs are fueling the opioid epidemic in the United States, devastating communities. The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

Tagged: Fentanyl