Overview
- The federal grand jury in Dayton, which returned the charges Tuesday, named Shandong Believe Chemical Company, Shandong Ranhang Biotechnology, and six Chinese citizens.
- The case stems from the FBI-led Operation Box Cutter, with China’s Ministry of Public Security sharing intelligence that officials say advanced the investigation.
- Prosecutors say the group marketed fentanyl precursors, including medetomidine, from July 2025 through January 2026, which authorities say can make a kilogram of fentanyl yield at least twenty times more doses.
- Officials say three defendants sold chemicals to a member of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel, which the State Department lists as a foreign terrorist organization, and FBI leaders describe related material-support allegations.
- U.S. buyers were told to pay in cryptocurrency sent to wallets and then moved into foreign banks, a flow prosecutors say was used to hide the transactions.