Metropolis Desk-
Numerous Chinese businesses and individuals have been targeted by penalties and indictments by the US, which accuses them of participating in the unlawful sale of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl.
China vehemently denounced the accusations and sanctions that were announced by the US Attorney’s Offices in Florida and the federal Treasury Department on Tuesday.
The latest effort in the US government’s battle against the deadliest overdose crisis in its history, according to US officials, includes charges against Chinese companies and executives accused of marketing, producing, and distributing precursor chemicals for synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
On behalf of the US government, we are present to send a message. According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, “We know who is responsible for fentanyl poisoning the American people.”
He stated, “We know that this worldwide supply chain for fentanyl, which ends with American deaths, frequently begins with chemical corporations in China.”
Some of the Chinese chemical manufacturing enterprises were charged by the prosecution of utilizing phony labels and other covert methods to transfer banned substances to the US. Prosecutors claimed that other shipments went to Mexico’s strong Sinaloa drug gang.
A representative for the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, Liu Pengyu, claimed that the Chinese government took a strong position against drugs and accused the US of “scapegoating” China and weakening bilateral anti-drug cooperation.
During his visit to China in June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly made it plain that Washington needed significantly more assistance from Beijing to stop the flow of fentanyl. Both parties had agreed to look into forming a working group on the issue.
A day before Attorney General Garland and other senior officials were scheduled to travel to Mexico, where fentanyl trafficking is anticipated to be a key topic of discussion, the announcement of sanctions and indictments on Tuesday was made.
The US has been battling the opioid issue for decades, and fentanyl is the most recent threat.
According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 100,000 persons in the US died from drug overdoses in 2022, with an estimated 82,998 of those deaths involving opioids.
The US Justice Department on Tuesday filed charges against eight businesses and also charged 12 business executives for their suspected involvement in narcotics trafficking.
The Treasury Department issued sanctions in the joint action against 28 individuals and businesses, largely in China but also in Canada.
They will be shut off from the US financial system by the sanctions, which also forbid US citizens from conducting business with them. Garland stated that prosecutors intended to “bring every one of these defendants to justice” despite the fact that none of those accused have been detained.
Source- Al Jazeera
