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U.S. Seizes Record Meth Precursors, Indicts China-Based Suppliers in Fentanyl Probe

The push targets the supply chain through coordinated indictments, sanctions, high‑seas seizures, using new legal authorities.

A Mexican Army expert shows crystal meth paste at a clandestine laboratory near la Rumorosa town in Tecate, Baja California state, Mexico on August 28, 2018.
Officials said 13,000 barrels of precursor chemicals were seized from two ships that left Shanghai bound for Mexico
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro called it the largest-ever seizure of meth precursor chemicals
US authorities say they are now able to track meth precursor chemicals before they reach US soil

Overview

  • Agents intercepted 1,300 barrels—363,000 pounds of benzyl alcohol and 334,000 pounds of N‑methylformamide—loaded in Shanghai for the Sinaloa Cartel, with foreign partners helping move the seized cargo via Panama to Houston.
  • Officials said the chemicals could have produced about 420,000 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of roughly $569 million in Houston.
  • The Sinaloa Cartel’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation enabled a terrorism forfeiture warrant that authorized the high‑seas interdictions.
  • A Dayton grand jury charged 22 Chinese nationals, four China‑based chemical companies, and three U.S. defendants in Operation Box Cutter for narcotics and international money‑laundering conspiracies.
  • Treasury sanctioned Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical and company representatives Xiaojun Huang and Zhanpeng Huang as investigators detailed cryptocurrency payment flows that routed U.S. funds to overseas accounts.