China Arrests 2 Nationals, Seizes 475 Kilograms in US Prison Drug Smuggling Case

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 9

Two Chinese nationals — Lisa Xing, 36, and Zhanwen Song, 38 — were arrested in China after a Texas superseding indictment accused them of supplying synthetic drugs later distributed in U.S. federal and state prisons.
Prosecutors say the pair shipped synthetic opioids, cannabinoids and other drugs to co-defendants in Texas and Michigan, who dissolved them into liquid, soaked paper sheets and mailed them to inmates nationwide.
China's Ministry of Public Security also arrested 19 additional alleged co-conspirators, seized 475 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids and shut down four illicit manufacturing sites.
The Justice Department said the case was coordinated through an FBI-Chinese Ministry of Public Security counternarcotics working group created earlier this year, extending U.S. enforcement into overseas supply networks.
If convicted, each defendant faces a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence and could receive life in prison.