Chinese nationals indicted in North Texas for trafficking drugs to prison inmates across United States
DALLAS - Two Chinese nationals, alongside two U.S. citizens, are facing drug trafficking charges in connection to a scheme that provided synthetic drugs to prison inmates across the United States.
Chinese nationals indicted in North Texas
What we know:
36-year-old Lisa Xing and 38-year-old Zhanwen Song have been charged in the Eastern District of Texas, by a federal grand jury.
The two have been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering violations in connection to a drug trafficking operation involving drugs being shipped from China to the United States.
Xing and Song, alongside 19 other co-conspirators, were arrested in China in a joint operation between China’s Ministry of Public Security and the FBI.
In May, Adell Willis, 43, of Lewisville, and Judy Ly, 30, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, were indicted in the same conspiracy.
The suspects' indictments claim Willis purchased synthetic opioids, cannabinoids, stimulants, and other drugs from Xing and Song in China, and had them shipped to his residence in Texas and Ly's residence in Michigan.
Prosecutors allege that the drugs received from China were liquidized and saturated into sheets of paper before they were delivered to inmates at various prisons across the United States.
What they're saying:
"The indictment alleges that a China-based supplier and a domestic distributor worked together to bring deadly synthetic drugs into the United States for distribution across the country," said U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs. "We will continue working with our Homeland Security Task Force partners to pursue and hold accountable those who traffic dangerous drugs into our country."
"The Homeland Security Task Force was established by President Trump’s executive order to protect Americans from illegal drug activity infesting our communities," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "This FBI and our partners will stop at nothing to identify, find, and arrest these criminals who bring drugs to our streets. These two Chinese nationals allegedly trafficked dangerous, synthetic drugs from China into the United States and smuggled them into our prison systems for illicit gain. This HSTF investigation is yet another example, among thousands, of our task forces working throughout the country, every day, to make it safer for everyone. Thank you to FBI Dallas and our great law enforcement partners across the interagency who worked this investigation with us."
"These indictments send a clear message to those who seek to exploit the international mail system to fuel the illicit drug trade in the United States: distance and international borders will not shield you from American law enforcement. These defendants are alleged to have trafficked precursor chemicals from China into the United States, providing essential materials used in the production of fentanyl," said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Joseph B. Tucker. "Working alongside our Homeland Security Task Force partners and the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Texas, we will continue to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the supply networks that enable drug trafficking organizations, hold those responsible accountable, and save American lives."
What's next:
If convicted, each defendant faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in federal prison.
The Source: Information in this story comes from the U.S. Department of Justice.