WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2020) The United States has sanctioned Chinese national Taotao Zhang for shipping the deadly drug fentanyl into the United States and identified him as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified Chinese national Taotao Zhang as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act)," Treasury Deputy Secretary Justin Muzinich said in the statement.
The Treasury Department explained that as a result of today's action, all property possessed by Zheng in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.
Zhang, a chemist and chemical supplier, has shipped synthetic opioids to the United States via multiple individuals and freight-forwarding services in order to disguise the origin of the substances, the statement said.
Once package with labels disguising the substances was received in the United States, US-based distributors could press one kilogram of fentanyl into up to one million counterfeit pharmaceutical pills for further distribution to domestic customers, the statement said.
"The United States remains committed to protecting vulnerable Americans by targeting individuals peddling this deadly drug," the statement added.
The US government has designated since 2000 more than 2,200 individuals and entities pursuant to the Kingpin Act for their role in international narcotics trafficking, according to the statement.
