Beijing: US authorities were criticised for charging four Chinese companies and eight individuals with trafficking chemicals used in manufacturing fentanyl, calling the arrests “arbitrary detention”.
The US Justice Department is intensifying a crackdown on the synthetic opioid responsible for hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths in America over the past decade.
Its latest move is the first time Washington has charged Chinese firms for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals to the US, rather than Mexico, the origin of most fentanyl found in America.
“This is a typical example of arbitrary detention and unilateral sanctions. China strongly condemns this,” the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The four companies are Hubei Amarvel Biotech, Anhui Rencheng Technology, Anhui Moker New Material Technology and Hefei GSK Trade.
Among the eight people indicted are executives and employees of the four firms.
Their detention came just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Chinese capital, where he met with President Xi Jinping.
Fentanyl has become an important issue in the tense relationship between Washington and Beijing, with Blinken raising it during his visit.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and much easier and cheaper to produce.
Beijing listed all fentanyl-related substances as controlled narcotics in 2019, regulating their production and sale. — AFP
