The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury has designated three Chinese nationals and two entities as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 USC §1901-1908. According to OFAC, Fujing Zheng, through his Zheng Drug Trafficking Organization, oversees an international drug trafficking operation that ships hundreds of packages of synthetic opioids to the US. Zheng, his father, and another of the designated individuals, are under indictment in the US for their roles in the drug manufacturing and shipping conspiracy.
In coordination with OFAC’s announcement of the designations, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an advisory to help identify and bring financial pressure to bear on manufacturers, sellers and distributors of opioids and other illegal drugs. According to the director of FinCEN, the advisory will help make the financial sector aware of “tactics and typologies behind illicit schemes to launder the proceeds of these fatal drug sales, including transactions using digital currency and foreign bank accounts.”
US Dept. of the Treasury press release | White House press release | FinCEN advisory