🇨🇳 nationals Qingzhou Wang (王庆周), aka “Bruce”, and Yiyi Chen (陈依依), aka “Chiron” — the principal executive and marketing manager of Amarvel Biotech respectively — were sentenced to 25 and 15 years in prison on Sep 18 and Aug 22, respectively, for fentanyl precursor importation and money laundering offenses. Wang and Chen were found guilty on Feb 3, 2025, following a 2-week jury trial. Wang was also convicted of importing a methamphetamine precursor.
In addition to their respective prison terms, Wang and Chen were each sentenced to 3 years of supervised release. Wang was ordered to forfeit $67,168.25, and Chen was ordered to forfeit internet domain names for 12 websites previously seized by law enforcement.
Wuhan-based Amarvel Biotech was a chemical manufacturer that exported vast quantities of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues.
Amarvel Biotech and Wang, Chen, and a sales representative, FNU LNU, aka “Er Yang,” aka “Anita” (“Yang”), shipped more than 200kg of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and its analogues from China to the US. They shipped the precursors to the US after being told that the chemicals would be used to produce fentanyl in New York, and then they agreed to supply multi-ton shipments of fentanyl precursors despite being told that Americans had died after consuming fentanyl made from the chemicals that the defendants had sold. In exchange, Amarvel Biotech received tens of thousands of dollars in payment in cryptocurrency.
In or about Nov 2022, Yang began negotiating the sale of fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors to a DEA confidential source (“CS-1”) posing as a fentanyl trafficker in Mexico with operations in the US. Amarvel Biotech thereafter shipped from China to New York approximately 999.7g of the fentanyl precursor 1-boc-4-AP, approximately 1,002.6g of the fentanyl precursor 1-boc-4-piperidone, and approximately 893.6g of the methamphetamine precursor methylamine.
In or about Mar 2023, Wang and Chen traveled from China to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet with an individual whom CS-1 represented was CS-1’s boss but who was in fact another DEA confidential source (“CS-2”). During the meeting, Wang and Chen discussed Amarvel Biotech’s ability to supply ton-quantities of fentanyl precursors to New York for CS-1 and CS-2’s fentanyl manufacturing operation. After CS-2 stated that CS-2 wanted a different formula for manufacturing fentanyl and that several of CS-2’s American customers had purportedly died, Wang and Chen advised they had “a lot of customers in America and Mexico” who could provide technical assistance with fentanyl production.
After the Mar 2023 meeting in Bangkok, Amarvel Biotech, Wang, Chen, and Yang agreed to sell CS-1 and CS-2 approximately 210 kilograms of fentanyl precursors, again in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency. During an Apr 10, 2023, video call with Wang and Chen, CS-2 stated that the approximately 210kg of fentanyl precursors would be used to manufacture ~50 - 55kg of fentanyl — an amount that could contain approximately 25 million deadly doses.
In or about May 2023, Amarvel Biotech, Wang, Chen, and Yang sent to the US the shipment ordered by CS-1 and CS-2. On or about May 5, 2023, the DEA retrieved the precursor shipment from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Lab testing confirmed the presence of a precursor chemical for a fentanyl analogue. In an encrypted messaging group chat with CS-1, CS-2, Wang, and Chen, Yang explained that “New York, the United States, has been strict in checking the precursors of the ‘final product’ some time ago, so for the sake of safety, this time it is sent to California.”
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justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/t
🇨🇳 nationals Qingzhou Wang (王庆周), aka “Bruce”, and Yiyi Chen (陈依依), aka “Chiron” — the principal executive and marketing manager of Amarvel Biotech respectively — were sentenced to 25 and 15 years in prison on Sep 18 and Aug 22, respectively, for fentanyl precursor importation and money laundering offenses. Wang and Chen were found guilty on Feb 3, 2025, following a 2-week jury trial. Wang was also convicted of importing a methamphetamine precursor.
In addition to their respective prison terms, Wang and Chen were each sentenced to 3 years of supervised release. Wang was ordered to forfeit $67,168.25, and Chen was ordered to forfeit internet domain names for 12 websites previously seized by law enforcement.
Wuhan-based Amarvel Biotech was a chemical manufacturer that exported vast quantities of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues.
Amarvel Biotech and Wang, Chen, and a sales representative, FNU LNU, aka “Er Yang,” aka “Anita” (“Yang”), shipped more than 200kg of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and its analogues from China to the US. They shipped the precursors to the US after being told that the chemicals would be used to produce fentanyl in New York, and then they agreed to supply multi-ton shipments of fentanyl precursors despite being told that Americans had died after consuming fentanyl made from the chemicals that the defendants had sold. In exchange, Amarvel Biotech received tens of thousands of dollars in payment in cryptocurrency.
In or about Nov 2022, Yang began negotiating the sale of fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors to a DEA confidential source (“CS-1”) posing as a fentanyl trafficker in Mexico with operations in the US. Amarvel Biotech thereafter shipped from China to New York approximately 999.7g of the fentanyl precursor 1-boc-4-AP, approximately 1,002.6g of the fentanyl precursor 1-boc-4-piperidone, and approximately 893.6g of the methamphetamine precursor methylamine.
In or about Mar 2023, Wang and Chen traveled from China to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet with an individual whom CS-1 represented was CS-1’s boss but who was in fact another DEA confidential source (“CS-2”). During the meeting, Wang and Chen discussed Amarvel Biotech’s ability to supply ton-quantities of fentanyl precursors to New York for CS-1 and CS-2’s fentanyl manufacturing operation. After CS-2 stated that CS-2 wanted a different formula for manufacturing fentanyl and that several of CS-2’s American customers had purportedly died, Wang and Chen advised they had “a lot of customers in America and Mexico” who could provide technical assistance with fentanyl production.
After the Mar 2023 meeting in Bangkok, Amarvel Biotech, Wang, Chen, and Yang agreed to sell CS-1 and CS-2 approximately 210 kilograms of fentanyl precursors, again in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency. During an Apr 10, 2023, video call with Wang and Chen, CS-2 stated that the approximately 210kg of fentanyl precursors would be used to manufacture ~50 - 55kg of fentanyl — an amount that could contain approximately 25 million deadly doses.
In or about May 2023, Amarvel Biotech, Wang, Chen, and Yang sent to the US the shipment ordered by CS-1 and CS-2. On or about May 5, 2023, the DEA retrieved the precursor shipment from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Lab testing confirmed the presence of a precursor chemical for a fentanyl analogue. In an encrypted messaging group chat with CS-1, CS-2, Wang, and Chen, Yang explained that “New York, the United States, has been strict in checking the precursors of the ‘final product’ some time ago, so for the sake of safety, this time it is sent to California.”
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justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/t
Byron Wan@Byron_Wan
Aug 25
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(Weird that this hasn’t been announced by DOJ or reported by major news organizations yet.)
Aug 22: Yiyi Chen (陈依依), a national who was convicted in Feb (justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/t) for her role in a conspiracy to import fentanyl precursors from China to the US, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release by District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul Gardephe.
In Feb, Chen, marketing manager at Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co, and Qingzhou Wang (王庆周), chief executive of the same company, were found guilty of conspiring to import the chemical 1-boc-4-AP, with reasonable cause that the defendants knew it would be used in the manufacture and distribution of illicit fentanyl in the US. They were also found guilty of importing methylamine and money laundering.
Amarvel, a Chinese chemical company, openly advertised the sale of chemicals used to make fentanyl and “100 percent stealth shipping” services that would ensure the precursors were sent in packaging indicating the contents were dog food, nuts, or motor oil to avoid detection and seizure. It also claimed to ship multiple tons of chemicals to the US on a monthly basis, and other shipments to Culiacan, Mexico, which is where the Sinaloa Cartel is based.
In all, Wang and Chen shipped more than 200kg of chemicals from China to California — enough to make 50kg of fentanyl, or 25 million deadly doses.
Wang will be sentenced Sep 8.
theepochtimes.com/us/chinese-wom
x.com/innercitypress
national who was convicted in Feb (justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/t) for her role in a conspiracy to import fentanyl precursors from China to the US, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release by District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul Gardephe.
In Feb, Chen, marketing manager at Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co, and Qingzhou Wang (王庆周), chief executive of the same company, were found guilty of conspiring to import the chemical 1-boc-4-AP, with reasonable cause that the defendants knew it would be used in the manufacture and distribution of illicit fentanyl in the US. They were also found guilty of importing methylamine and money laundering.
Amarvel, a Chinese chemical company, openly advertised the sale of chemicals used to make fentanyl and “100 percent stealth shipping” services that would ensure the precursors were sent in packaging indicating the contents were dog food, nuts, or motor oil to avoid detection and seizure. It also claimed to ship multiple tons of chemicals to the US on a monthly basis, and other shipments to Culiacan, Mexico, which is where the Sinaloa Cartel is based.
In all, Wang and Chen shipped more than 200kg of chemicals from China to California — enough to make 50kg of fentanyl, or 25 million deadly doses.
Wang will be sentenced Sep 8.
theepochtimes.com/us/chinese-wom
x.com/innercitypress
In or about June 2023, Wang and Chen traveled from China to Fiji to meet again with CS-2. During the meeting, Wang and Chen discussed with CS-2 a multi-ton order of fentanyl precursor chemicals. Wang and Chen also discussed the need to take additional measures to protect themselves from detection and interdiction of their shipments “because recently American government . . . seized some Mexican group and they followed the routes to China,” where the US Government found “our competitor in China” — an apparent reference to fentanyl-related charges filed in the Southern District of New York and announced in April 2023 against, among others, leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel and certain China-based precursor chemical company executives.
Amarvel Biotech openly advertised online its sale of precursor chemicals for use in manufacturing fentanyl. Through its website and a host of other storefront sites, Amarvel Biotech targeted precursor chemical customers in Mexico, where drug cartels operate clandestine laboratories and distribute finished fentanyl into and throughout the US, including by advertising fentanyl precursors as a “Mexico hot sale”, guaranteeing “100% stealth shipping” abroad, and posting to its websites documentation of Amarvel Biotech shipping chemicals to Culiacan, the home city of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the dominant drug trafficking organizations in the Western Hemisphere and which is largely responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the US in recent years.
Amarvel Biotech also endeavored to thwart law enforcement interdiction of its precursor chemical shipments. Amarvel Biotech advertised online the business’s ability to use deceptive packaging — such as packaging indicating the contents are dog food, nuts, or motor oil — to ensure “safe” delivery of the illicit contents of such shipments. During this investigation, law enforcement seized approximately $900,000 in cryptocurrency from accounts tied to Amarvel Biotech and domain names for 12 websites tied to Amarvel Biotech.
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