Chinese Nationals Indicted Over Narcotics Flowing Through North Dakota

Authorities say the men controlled one of the most prolific international drug-trafficking organizations

NORTH DAKOTA — A pair of Chinese nationals has been indicted for manufacturing tons of fentanyl and other powerful narcotics that were peddled in the United States and flowed, in part, through North Dakota.

One of the two, 38-year-old Jian Zhang, was indicted in North Dakota, along with eight others accused in the conspiracy.

North Dakota U.S. Attorney Christopher Myers says the investigation began here in January 2015 with the overdose death of 18-year-old Bailey Henke in Grand Forks.

Another case involved a 2013 traffic stop in Mississippi that lead to the discovery of synthetic opioid deliveries.

Authorities say the men controlled one of the most prolific international drug-trafficking organizations.

“There was a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and fentanyl analogues in at least 11 states between January 2013 and August 2016 and a conspiracy to import the drugs to the United States from Canada and China,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. “This was a money laundering conspiracy, an international drug conspiracy and a continuing criminal enterprise according to the allegations in the indictment.”

Rosenstein said the men used websites to sell the deadly derivatives across the U.S. using different company names and identities over a six year period.

But with no extradition treaty with China, the chances are slim they will ever be brought to the U.S. to face the charges.