Uncovering the Traces of a Fentanyl Smuggling Organization in Japan, Originating from China
In a groundbreaking legal case this year, Qingzhou "Bruce" Wang and Yiyi "Chiron" Chen, two individuals linked to the Chinese chemical firm Hubei Amarvel Biotech (AmarvelBio), were found guilty of conspiracy to import fentanyl precursors and money laundering.
The case, the first of its kind to prosecute Chinese company executives for trafficking fentanyl precursors, involved more than 200 kilograms of chemicals shipped from China to the US. These chemicals were enough to produce 25 million deadly doses of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
AmarvelBio, based in Wuhan, China, has been under investigation due to its connection with a salesperson named Cindy and the e-commerce platform ChemicalBook. Cindy's seller profile on ChemicalBook boasts over 350 active listings. Interestingly, both AmarvelBio and another chemical firm, Firsky, have seller's profiles on ChemicalBook.
An intriguing aspect of the case is the connection between AmarvelBio and Japan. It is speculated that Japan may have been chosen as a base for AmarvelBio's network because it is not widely associated with trafficking fentanyl precursors, making it less likely for shipments to be inspected.
Both AmarvelBio and Firsky have been linked through various pieces of evidence. An image of a certificate bearing an identical report number and date, but with Firsky listed under "company name", was found on one of Firsky's websites. Moreover, some products advertised by Firsky were clearly branded as AmarvelBio and displayed the "Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co., Ltd" watermark. Even more striking, an image of the same factory was displayed on one Firsky website and AmarvelBio's ChemicalBook profile.
Xia Fengzhi, a Chinese man, has been referred to in the New York legal proceedings as "the boss in Japan". However, his current whereabouts remain unknown, and there are no publicly available recent investigations or official information in Japan linking him to AmarvelBio. Xia was listed as the owner of a Chinese company called Fushikai Trading Co Ltd, which is suspected to have been used as a command post for the cross-border smuggling operation.
Despite AmarvelBio displaying a certificate claiming to show it passed a third-party quality inspection, SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services Co. Ltd., the company said to have issued the certificates, was unable to verify the documents because they were incomplete.
The investigation into AmarvelBio and its connections was brought to light by Bellingcat, which was contacted by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, which was investigating AmarvelBio's connection to Japan. The trial took place in a New York courtroom this year, marking a significant step in the global fight against illicit fentanyl production and trafficking.
