China sentences 9 to jail for smuggling fentanyl to US

A Chinese
court on Thursday jailed nine people, one with a suspended death sentence, for
smuggling fentanyl into the United States, saying this was the first case the
two countries had worked together on.

China has faced US criticism for not taking any required measures to prevent the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid, 50 times more powerful than heroin.

It is often
used to make counterfeit narcotics because of its relatively cheap price and it
has played an increasingly central role in an opioid crisis in the United
States.

The court in
the northern city of Xingtai, in a statement given to reporters invited to
cover the sentencing, said Chinese and US law enforcement had worked together
to break up the ring, which smuggled fentanyl and other opioids to the United
States via courier.

One of the
people sentenced by the court was given a suspended death sentence, which in
practice is normally reduced to life in jail and two got life sentences.