US President Biden signed two executive orders on Wednesday (December 15) to increase efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations and drug trafficking networks. Chinese citizens and companies, as well as organized criminal groups in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, were sanctioned by the US government.
The US government stated that the United States has fallen into the worst drug abuse “epidemic” in history for many years, driven by overdose deaths involving heroin and illegal fentanyl, and more easily available methamphetamines. Biden’s two executive orders declared a national emergency in response to the epidemic and formally established the United States Commission to Combat Transnational Organized Crime (USCTOC).
According to the authority granted by the latest executive order, the U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday identified 25 actors engaged in or attempted to engage in activities or transactions involving the international proliferation or manufacture of illegal drugs, including 10 individuals and 15 entities.
The foreign actors sanctioned this time include a Chinese citizen and four Chinese companies.
The Chinese citizen designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury is named Ye Quanfa (transliteration: Chuen Fat Yip), and the four companies are Wuhan Yuancheng Gongchuang Technology Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Xunjing Chemical Co., Ltd. Translated name, Shanghai Fast-Fine Chemicals Co., LTD), Hebei Huanhao Biotechnology Co., Ltd (translated name, Hebei Huanhao Biotechnology Co., Ltd) and Hebei Atun Trading Co., Ltd (translated name, Hebei Atun Trading Co., Ltd).
The US government accused Ye Quanfa of leading a drug trafficking organization operating in mainland China and Hong Kong, smuggling fentanyl, anabolic steroids and other synthetic drugs to the US, and controlling a group of companies that sold compounds and fentanyl to the public and private companies. Toxic chemicals, these companies include Wuhan Yuancheng Co-Creation Technology Co., Ltd.
The U.S. Treasury Department said that Ye Quanfa is considered to be one of the largest, even if not the world’s largest producer of anabolic steroids, and most of its products eventually flow into the United States. Ye Quanfa also uses virtual currencies such as Bitcoin to conduct transactions.
In accordance with the sanctions, the property or interests of individuals identified by the Department of the Treasury that are located in the United States or owned or controlled by U.S. legal entities will be frozen. Unless approved by the Department of the Treasury, a U.S. legal person or any person located in the U.S. or transiting through the U.S. shall not conduct transactions with property and interests owned by the identified person.A senior official of the National Security Council said that the reason for sanctions on these Chinese entities this time is simple because China is the birthplace of many synthetic opioid raw materials, and the United States uses this to “transmit a signal.”
Offer a rewardAt the same time,
the U.S. State Department has also cooperated with the latest action and announced on Wednesday that it is offering a reward for information about the arrest and/or conviction of Ye Quanfa or the interruption of the Yuancheng Group’s financial activities. The reward is up to 5 million U.S. dollars. Ye Quanfa was prosecuted by the federal government and charged with conspiracy to possess controlled substances for the purpose of distribution, conspiracy to export controlled substances, conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances while knowingly breaking the law.The US State Department on Wednesday also offered a bounty of up to $5 million to seek information on the arrest and/or conviction of Chinese citizens Zheng Fujing (transliteration, Fujing Zheng) and Zheng Guanghua (transliteration, Guanghua Zheng). The two were charged with multiple counts of manufacturing and distributing illegal drugs such as acetylfentanyl. Zheng Fujing and Zheng Guanghua were recognized by the US Treasury Department as “important foreign narcotics traffickers” in August this year .On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department identified entities in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. The U.S. State Department announced that it is offering a reward for information seeking to arrest and/or convict four senior leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel drug cartel (Sinaloa Cartel), each with a reward of up to $5 million.In a background briefing on Wednesday morning, senior officials of the White House National Security Council said that statistics for the past 12 months at the end of April 2021 showed that more than 100,000 Americans have died due to overdose. White House officials said the new executive order has strengthened the Treasury Department’s ability to combat drug smuggling.
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