US Charges 3 Drug Traffickers With Importing Fentanyl Precursor Chemicals
The U.S. charged three international drug traffickers last week with conspiracy to import fentanyl and methamphetamine precursor chemicals and importing a fentanyl precursor chemical, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. The indictment brought charges against Xiang Gao, a Chinese national; Oleksandr Klochkov, a Ukrainian national; and Igors Kricfalusijs, a Latvian national.
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The U.S. Attorney's Office said all three are drug traffickers who used their ties to a China-based chemical manufacturer to broker deals for fentanyl and methamphetamine precursor chemicals for "further distribution in the U.S. and elsewhere." The three individuals allegedly worked to import the chemicals to New York, Austria and Spain, intending to use the chemicals to make fentanyl and methamphetamine in New York for further distribution.
The indictment said the individuals offered manufacturers factories capable of producing narcotics precursors and "consistently acknowledged that the precursors were designed to evade sanctions on narcotics importation but were purpose-built to make fentanyl and methamphetamine."