Sunday Read: 28 charged in int'l opioid and money laundering scheme

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA seemed to be an unlikely place for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to announce the indictments for a drug distribution and money laundering scheme but it shows the extent the opioid crisis has impacted the U.S.

One indictment involves Jian Zhang, a 38-year-old Chinese national, who faces five federal charges, including money laundering, conspiracy to distribute drugs, conspiracy to import drugs and criminal enterprise. He is believed to be the leader of the international drug smuggling ring. 

The indictment also names four additional Chinese nationals, who face charges of international money laundering, and seven Canadian and U.S. residents, who face charges of conspiracy to distribute drugs and conspiracy to import drugs.

Zhang and the four other Chinese nationals are considered fugitives, Sessions said. They are believed to be in China. Three other co-conspirators in the case have been arrested in three different states.

The investigation started in North Dakota on Jan. 3, 2015, with the overdose death in Grand Forks of 18-year-old Bailey Henke.

North Dakota emerged as the unlikely epicenter for the drug distribution ring — more than a dozen deaths examined by the Grand Forks County Coroner’s Office since 2014 have been tied to fentanyl — it’s use has been widespread throughout the region as families, law enforcement and health practitioners look to address its toxic and dangerous nature.

The three-year investigation called "Operation Denial" has charged 28 individuals involved in an international ring of  smuggling and distributing opioids and laundering money.

Na Chu, 37; Yeyou Chu, 36; Cuiying Liu, 62; and Keping Zhang, 62, all Chinese nationals, were charged by a superseding indictment returned on Jan. 18, with international money laundering conspiracy, Sessions, U.S.. announced Friday (April 27).

 Attorney Christopher C. Myers for the District of North Dakota and Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today.

'Operation Denial'

 “Operation Denial” is an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation into the international trafficking of fentanyl and other lethal drugs, and was significantly aided by the national and international coordination led by the multi-agency Special Operations Division (S.O.D.) near Washington D.C. as part of “Operation Deadly Merchant.”

“Fentanyl and its analogues killed more Americans than any other drug in 2016, and the vast majority of it comes from China,” said Sessions.  “The defendants in this case allegedly trafficked fentanyl from China to 11 states from coast to coast.  As a result, Americans died in at least three states." 

Separate investigations by the U.S. Senate and the Associated Press detailed unchecked production in China of some of the world’s most dangerous drugs.

AP reporters found multiple sellers willing to ship carfentanil — an opioid used as an elephant tranquilizer that is so potent it has been considered a chemical weapon. The sellers used also offered advice on how to evade screening by U.S. authorities.

In a yearlong probe, Senate investigators said last January that it found that Chinese sellers, who openly market opioids such as fentanyl to U.S. buyers over the Internet, are pushing delivery through the U.S. postal system. The sellers are taking advantage of a failure by the postal service to fully implement an electronic data system that would help authorities identify suspicious shipments.

At a time of massive growth in postal shipments from China due to e-commerce, the investigators found that the U.S. postal system received the electronic data on just over a third of all international packages, making more than 300 million packages in 2017 much harder to screen.

“The Postal Service will continue to work tirelessly to address this serious societal issue,” spokesman David Partenheimer said in a statement.

Chinese authorities, as well as Canadian and Mexican authorities, are cooperating with U.S. law enforcement to curtail illegal shipments of the deadly drugs.

Additional defendants previously charged in this most recent superseding indictment with drug trafficking conspiracy include Jian Zhang, aka Hong Kong Zaron, 39, of China; Jason Joey Berry, aka Daniel Desnoyers, 35, of Quebec, Canada; Anthony Santos Gomes, aka Ant, 33, of Davie, Florida; Elizabeth Ton, aka Lisa Gomes, 26, of Davie, Florida; Xuan Cahn Nguyen, aka Jackie and Jackie Chan 38, of Quebec Canada; Marie Um, aka Angry Bird, 37, of Quebec, Canada; Vannek Um, 40, of Quebec, Canada; and Linda Van, 25, of Quebec, Canada.

In a separate indictment returned on March 22, Steven Barros Pinto, aka Yeaboy, 36, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues resulting in serious bodily injury and death, conspiracy to import controlled substances and controlled substance analogues into the United States resulting in serious bodily injury and death, continuing criminal enterprise, and a forfeiture allegation.

Additional defendants charged in this indictment with drug trafficking conspiracy include: Louis Felix Bell, 30, of West Palm Beach, Florida; Amanda Renee Schneider, 27, of West Palm Beach; Danny Silva Gamboa, 21, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Robinson Andres Gomez, aka Rob, 25, of Pineville, North Carolina; and Keveen Odair Nobre, aka Young Money, 28, of Pawtucket.

Many of the individuals remain at large. The indictments are merely accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Understanding the Opioid Crisis

"There can be no doubt that this is the deadliest drug crisis in American history. Approximately 64,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses in 2016 – the highest drug death toll and the fastest increase in that death toll in American history," said Sessions.

In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates.

Increased prescription of opioid medications led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive.

In 2017 HHS declared a public health emergency and announced a 5-Point Strategy To Combat the Opioid Crisis

Devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic include increases in opioid misuse and related overdoses, as well as the rising incidence of newborns experiencing withdrawal syndrome due to opioid use and misuse during pregnancy.

Substance abuse among the AAPI community is relatively low compared to other ethnic groups. However, a 2017 study reported by the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment did point out:

• Asians who are U.S. born with high English proficiency have higher rates of past-year drug use.
• Acculturation, gender, ethnicity, age, depression and drinking predict Asian/American drug use.
• Among Asian/American ethnic groups, Filipinos have the highest rates of past-year drug use.