China sentences nine to jail for smuggling fentanyl to U.S.

FILE PHOTO: Plastic bags of fentanyl are displayed in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection area of the International Mail Facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 29, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Lott/File Photo

XINGTAI, China (Reuters) - A Chinese court on Thursday jailed nine people, one with a suspended death sentence, for smuggling fentanyl into the United States, saying this was the first such case the two countries had worked together on.

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 ties, already strained by a bruising trade war the two are now working to end.