Consul of China in Tijuana defended the production of Asian fentanyl for being “for medicinal use”

Investigations by the US Government have pointed to different Chinese companies as the origin of the precursors with which the fentanyl that has flooded that country is manufactured. (Infobae)

Yu Yue, Consul General of China in Tijuana, Baja California, spoke about the sanctions that the United States government has issued against companies from the Asian country for their apparent participation in an international fentanyl trafficking network.

It may interest you: “We are doing our job against fentanyl”, AMLO announced a new meeting with the US and Canada

During a meeting with Grupo XXI, a civil association in Tijuana, the diplomat criticized that the Joe Biden administration implemented these measures against the companies in charge of producing fentanyl tablets, as she assured that it is “only for medicinal use.” Added to this, she suggested that the root of the problem would be exclusively in the people who consume it.

“The United States has published a new list of sanctions against some Chinese companies for the alleged production of fentanyl and not only for that production, but factories that only produce tablets, not fentanyl, but medicine; it is unreasonable. Fentanyl, in addition to being a material like a drug, but in most of its use is not a drug but a medicine (sic.)”, was a fragment of his statement, according to Zeta Tijuana.

It may interest you: A single fentanyl laboratory in Edomex would have caused more than a thousand deaths in the US between 2005 and 2007

When directly questioned about whether there are companies that act illegally to traffic fentanyl from China to America, Yu Yue said she did not know if there would be any illegal transactions. “There is always someone who remains gray, but it is not a will or a practice supported by the Government or by an official method. We are opposed to that,” she added.

Yu Yue, Chinese consul in Tijuana. (Twitter/@ConexionMxli)

The presumption that Chinese citizens and companies could be involved in a criminal network of fentanyl trafficking is not recent.

It may interest you: Fentanyl overdose in the US will not end as long as there is a demand, said Adán Augusto López

One of the most publicized cases is that of Chuen Fat Yip, owner and chief executive of the Wuhan Yuancheng Technology Development company —better known as Yuancheng Group—, for whom the US State Department is offering a reward of up to five million dollars.

This subject, according to the authorities of that country, would be responsible for having sold 25 kilograms of fentanyl chemical precursors to a client through one of his companies in December 2017.

The product was apparently scheduled to arrive at a US address to be smuggled into Mexico. Already in Aztec lands, it would be used to produce fentanyl and, finally, it would be reintroduced to the US for distribution.

Chuen Fat Yip is one of the businessmen designated by the DEA for his alleged participation in the international fentanyl trafficking network. (DEA)

In addition, through the “Postage Due” operation, the Drug Control Administration (DEA) identified that Chuen Fat Yip would be one of the main suppliers of fentanyl to the Sinaloa Cartel.

“[Este individuo] traffics fentanyl, anabolic steroids and other synthetic drugs into the United States and controls a group of companies that sell fentanyl compounds and chemical precursors to the public and private companies” is how the Treasury Department describes the alleged criminal activities of the Chinese businessman.

Another company that would presumably have direct ties to Mexican cartels would be Shanghai Fast-Fine Chemicals Co., a transport company that, according to the US, since 2019 has been dedicated to sending chemical precursors with false labels to criminal groups in Mexico. The intention of this would be to supply clandestine fentanyl production laboratories on Mexican soil.

Although this opioid can be used in medicine as a pain reliever, its illegal circulation has triggered a crisis that claims the lives of approximately 200 people a day in the US. An overdose of this substance can cause, among other things, that the neurons that control vital functions, such as automatic breathing, stop working.

---

Source

---