A Chinese drug organization has been found to have built a fentanyl smuggling network into the United States using Japan as a base. Fentanyl is a type of powerful opioid painkiller developed by Janssen, a Belgian pharmaceutical company. The drug, intended to relieve pain in surgical patients, is being illegally distributed in the United States and elsewhere as a new synthetic narcotic.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 16th, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) confirmed a fentanyl distribution network using Japan as a relay base, after tracking a synthetic drug organization centered on the Chinese chemical company "Hubei Amarvel Biotech (Amarvel)" since 2023.
The organization established a corporation in Okinawa, Japan, in June 2021, then moved its base to Nagoya in September 2022, and continued its activities until the corporation was dissolved in July 2024. During this period, it is analyzed to have built a smuggling route to the United States using Japan as a transit point. Behind this organization is the Wuhan Yuancheng Group, a large illegal chemical substance organization in China.
"After the COVID-19 pandemic, a site called 'bbgate' appeared on the dark web, making the exchange of information related to illegal drug trafficking and manufacturing more active," a UNODC official said. "Among these, Amarvel was one of the most actively operating companies." According to Nikkei, posts recommending Amarvel or promoting the reliability of its products still remain on the site, and traces of illegal trading — even disclosing the names of sales representatives — have been confirmed.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also learned in May this year that fentanyl was being smuggled into the United States via Japan. In response, UNODC plans to strengthen international cooperation by pursuing the formation of a joint consultative body involving Japan and various Asian countries.
Nikkei reported that "the US Federal Court in New York ordered in June the confiscation of cryptocurrency assets of Xia Fengzhi, a Chinese national who was a key figure in the drug organization operating from Japan," adding, "The DEA arrested and indicted two Amarvel executives in 2023, but Xia Fengzhi's whereabouts have not been confirmed, so the DEA is continuing its investigation."
