WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Friday filed criminal charges against four Chinese chemical manufacturing companies and eight individuals over allegations they illegally trafficked the chemicals used to make fentanyl - a highly addictive painkiller that has fueled the opioid crisis in the United States.
The indictments mark the first time the U.S. has sought to prosecute any of the Chinese companies responsible for manufacturing precursor chemicals used to make the painkiller.
This week, Antony Blinken made the first visit to China by a U.S. Secretary of State in five years and said he made clear that Washington needs much greater cooperation from China on stemming the flow of fentanyl.
During the visit China and the U.S. agreed to stabilize their intense rivalry so that it did not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any breakthrough and the mood quickly soured again after U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday referred to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator.
The companies at the heart of the three separate indictments are accused of selling precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which in turn has flooded the U.S. with the drug.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced the unsealing of an indictment against the China-based chemical company Hubei Amarvel Biotech, along with its executives Qingzhou Wang, 35, Yiyi Chen, 31, and Fnu Lnu, also known as Er Yang, with fentanyl trafficking, precursor chemical importation, and money laundering offenses.
Two months earlier, the Justice Department charged leaders of the cartel with running a fentanyl trafficking operation fueled by Chinese chemical companies, including three sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the onetime Sinaloa Cartel leader now imprisoned in the U.S.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the cases "break new ground by attacking the fentanyl supply chain at its origin."
"Fentanyl poses a singular threat, not only because the smallest doses can be lethal, but because fentanyl does not occur in nature. It is entirely man-made."
The Chinese Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Also on Friday, Blinken announced he would convene a virtual ministerial meeting on July 7 of dozens of countries and international organizations, to launch a Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.
The aim would be to unite countries "in a concerted effort to prevent the illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs, identify emerging drug trends, and respond effectively to their public health impacts," he said in a statement.
The Justice Department said undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sources posing as fentanyl manufacturers met with Wang and Chen earlier this year and agreed to buy 210 kg of fentanyl precursors in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency. The DEA retrieved the chemicals from a Los Angeles warehouse in May.
Wang and Chen were arrested by DEA agents on June 8 and ordered detained in Honolulu, Hawaii until they can be transported to New York to appear before the judge handling the case.
Yang remains at large.
In the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors announced the unsealing of two more indictments against three other Chinese companies and individuals accused of conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl in the U.S.
Prosecutors said the companies - including one called Hebei Sinaloa Trading Co - advertised precursor chemicals on social media platforms in Mexico and the U.S., and used false customs forms and mislabeled packages to ship the chemicals by boat and air.
