July 18, 2020

OFAC designates Chinese individuals and entity pursuant to Kingpin Designation Act

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury has designed four Chinese nationals and one entity for facilitating payments for the purchase of fentanyl analogues or other controlled substances for the Zheng Drug Trafficking Organization, which was identified by OFAC as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act in August 2019.  One of the individuals, Guanghua Zheng was indicted in August 2018 in the US District Court for the Northern of Ohio for operating a conspiracy that manufactured and shipped fentanyl analogues and cannabinoids to 37 US states and 25 countries.

Pursuant to these Kingpin Act designations, US property of the designated individuals and entity is blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from dealing with such property.

US Dept. of the Treasury press release