US sanctioned Chinese firms in bid to combat drug trade

The United States on Wednesday sanctioned four Chinese painkiller makers in a bid to combat the illicit drug trade.

In a statement, the US Treasury Department said that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated 25 actors (10 individuals and 15 entities) in four countries "for having engaged in, or attempted to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production".

The sanctions targets individuals and drug trafficking organizations (DTO) based in Brazil, China, Colombia, and Mexico.

Those sanctioned include individuals who traffic fentanyl, and its precursor chemicals, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, as well as organizations that pose the greatest drug threat to the United States.

"The illicit drug trade threatens our national security, economy, communities, and families," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.

The designated actors included Chinese entities Wuhan Yuancheng Gongchuang Technology, Shanghai Fast-Fine Chemicals, Hebei Huanhao Biotechnology and Hebei Atun Trading, as well as Chinese national Chuen Fat Yip, the Treasury said.

Chuen and his company, Wuhan Yuancheng Gongchuang Technology, traffic fentanyl, anabolic steroids and other synthetic drugs to the US and sell compounds and chemical precursors used in narcotics production to the public, the Treasury Department said. They were considered one of, if not the largest, producer of anabolic steroids in the world, according to the statement.

The other three entities are similarly accused of trafficking chemical or pharmaceutical products used in the illicit manufacturing of fentanyl to countries around the world including Mexico, where the narcotics made are often intended for sale in the US, the Treasury Department said.

The sanctions came on the heels of two executive orders from President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday. The two executive orders establish a US Council on Transnational Organized Crime and expand the US government's ability to target drug trafficking organizations through sanctions, the White House said in a fact sheet.

( With inputs from ANI )