XINGTAI, China (Reuters) - A Chinese court on Thursday imprisoned nine people, one of whom received a suspended death sentence, on charges of smuggling fentanyl into the United States, in the first such case the two countries have worked on together.
China has faced U.S. criticism for not doing enough to prevent the flow of fentanyl into the United States, and the issue has become another irritant in bilateral ties, already strained by a bruising trade war the two are now working to end.
The joint announcement of the successful action against smugglers, in front of a group of Chinese and foreign reporters invited by the Chinese government, comes as the two countries are expected to be close to signing an interim trade deal.
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Yu Haibin, a senior official with China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, told reporters in the northern city of Xingtai, where the court case was heard, that Chinese and U.S. law enforcement had worked together to break up the ring. Members were accused of smuggling fentanyl and other opioids to the United States via courier.
The case originated in 2017 from the Department of Homeland Security’s New Orleans office, which acted on a tip from an informant who provided contact information for a Chinese seller using the pseudonym “Diana,” Austin Moore, a regional attache with the department, told reporters.
