A federal grand jury in Dayton, Ohio, returned charges against dozens of defendants, including Chinese nationals and companies, in narcotics and money laundering conspiracies involving illegal cutting agents.
Court documents say that from at least 2022 until present, Eric Michael Payne, 39, of Tipp City, Ohio, served as a main supplier of illegal cutting agents to fentanyl traffickers operating in southern Ohio. Payne allegedly purchased several kilogram shipments of the cutting agents from multiple Chinese companies purporting to be online pharmacies and legitimate chemical companies.
“Protecting Americans from fentanyl is one of this Department’s most important missions — and it starts with dismantling the international pipelines that bring deadly drugs and precursor to our shores,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will not rest until we stop Chinese companies from shipping poison to our citizens and bring everyone involved in this lethal trade to swift, complete justice.”
The U.S. defendants allegedly purchased from the Chinese companies at least 10 kilograms of fentanyl cutting agents, which, in turn, could yield more than 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixture bound for street-level sales in southern Ohio. The cutting agents included animal tranquilizers up to 200 times more powerful than morphine.
“Our indictment alleges that Chinese companies and affiliated foreign nationals intentionally and openly marketed, delivered, and exported to the United States controlled substances and other compounds that they knew would be used by domestic drug dealers to increase the yield and potency of fentanyl distributed in this country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick S. Gerace II. “As explained in court documents, these deadly drug mixtures were then sold directly into our communities here in southern Ohio.”
The companies allegedly used a series of Chinese foreign nationals located overseas to solicit, negotiate, and secure payments for illegal cutting agents from U.S. customers. It is alleged the foreign nationals generally directed U.S. customers to pay for the cutting agents using cryptocurrency transferred to crypto wallets under the foreign national’s control for ultimate deposit into financial institutions located overseas.
“Today’s announcement marks a first-of-its-kind international operation for the FBI targeting the fentanyl plague that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and indicting the companies and individuals in mainland China that manufacture the precursor chemicals fueling the destruction of our communities,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “This operation has already seized enough fentanyl powder to kill 70 million Americans and enough fentanyl pills to kill another 270,000. And we have now indicted the Chinese precursor companies and exposed the funding streams that facilitate this deadly trade.”
Payne’s significant other, Auriyon Tresan Rayford, 24, also of Tipp City, Ohio, and Ciandrea Bryne Davis, 39, of Atlanta, allegedly assisted Payne in transferring more than $60,000 in cryptocurrency to Chinese foreign nationals associated since 2022. Rayford also allegedly stored allowed illegal substances at her Ohio residence.
All the defendants are charged with conspiring with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl mixture and conspiring to launder money internationally. Payne is also charged with possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl mixture and tampering with evidence. Rayford is charged with maintaining a drug-involved premises.
The Chinese companies and nationals charged include:
- Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Company, Ltd.,
- Guanghzou Wanjiang Biotechnology Co., Ltd.,
- Hebei Hongjun New Material Technology Co., Ltd.,
- Hebei Feilaimi Technology Co., Ltd.,
- Lihui Zhao,
- FNU LNU a/k/a “Anna Sofia,”
- Shanhong Jiang,
- Yan Yang,
- Fengdi Zhang,
- Dehui Xia,
- Xing Wu Chen,
- Qing Lin Wang,
- Xiaojun Huang,
- Meixiang Yao,
- Zhanpeng Huang,
- Yuqing Feng,
- Dongjing Sun,
- Chengqi Nong,
- Tiduo Wei,
- Zhisong Nie,
- Jichao Zhu,
- Zhengzhe Yin,
- Changgen Du,
- Hongfei Wang,
- Huatao Yao, and
- Xuening Gao.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today has imposed sanctions on one of these Chinese companies, Guangzhou Tengyue, and two of its representatives, Zhanpeng Huang and Xiaojun Huang, targeting them pursuant to Treasury’s counternarcotics authorities.
Deputy Criminal Chief Brent G. Tabacchi and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth McCormick are representing the United States in this case.
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