A top Chinese drug official announced Thursday that Beijing authorities busted an illicit fentanyl factory and detained 19 people associated with the operation — but made no mention of two fentanyl kingpins who are wanted by the U.S. and presumably still on the loose.
Yu Haibin, director of precursor chemical control of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, the country’s equivalent of the DEA, held a press conference to announce the recent anti-fentanyl raid. Yu said Chinese authorities acted on a tip from their American counterparts and seized 4.7 kilograms of fentanyl from a factory that was shipping the powerful synthetic opioid to customers in the U.S. using the online pseudonym “Diana.”
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Earlier this week, Yu spoke exclusively to VICE News about fentanyl in China. While on Thursday he urged more cooperation between Chinese and U.S. authorities, he said previously that China has not arrested two men accused by the U.S. of manufacturing tons of fentanyl and supplying more than 100 dealers across the country, including at least one who sold fentanyl that contributed to the fatal overdose of an American teen. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein touted the indictments of the two men as a “major milestone” in the fight against fentanyl, but Yu said the U.S. hasn’t done enough to convince China to take action.
“China does not have solid evidence to show that they have violated Chinese law,” Yu told VICE News. “Our American counterparts haven’t provided such evidence either. Therefore, we have not reached a point to indict or arrest these two suspects.”
Yu apparently did not discuss the situation with the two alleged kingpins at the press conference Thursday. He did say, however, that China wants to work more closely with officials in the U.S. and Mexico, where drug cartels have turned to fentanyl as a lucrative way to satisfy the demand for opioids by American consumers, to combat the illicit drug trade. Despite the conciliatory message, Yu still disputed claims by the DEA that Chinese traffickers are the main suppliers of fentanyl to North America.
“China doesn’t deny that shipments to the U.S. happen, but there isn’t the proof to show how much — whether it’s 20 percent or 80 percent,” Yu said, according to the Associated Press. He reportedly added that U.S. authorities have only sent him information about six shipments of illicit fentanyl from China in the past year.
