Three Americans, 22 Chinese nationals, and four Chinese companies have been indicted on trafficking charges for allegedly facilitating the flow of illicit cutting agents from China that are mixed with fentanyl, federal officials announced on Sept. 3.

FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick Gerace, and agents from the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the charges during a press conference in Cincinnati.

“Today’s announcement marks a first-of-its-kind international operation for the FBI targeting the fentanyl plague that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and indicting the companies and individuals in mainland China that manufacture the precursor chemicals fueling the destruction of our communities,” Patel said in a statement.

“This operation has already seized enough fentanyl powder to kill 70 million Americans and enough fentanyl pills to kill another 270,000. And we have now indicted the Chinese precursor companies and exposed the funding streams that facilitate this deadly trade.”

Eric Michael Payne, 39, of Tipp City, Ohio, was arrested on Aug. 22.

Payne was allegedly a main supplier of illegal cutting agents to fentanyl traffickers operating in southern Ohio from January 2022 to August 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

Drug dealers often mix drugs with cutting agents, also known as adulterants, to stretch their supply and maximize profit. In some cases, they also add more powerful substances to amplify a drug’s potency.

Payne allegedly resold the cutting agents to drug dealers. Prosecutors also allege that he “intentionally mixed” them with fentanyl he possessed, creating a fentanyl cocktail that he then resold to drug dealers, according to an indictment.

Payne and two other Americans—Auriyon Tresan Rayford, 24, of Tipp City, and Ciandrea Bryne Davis, 39, of Atlanta—allegedly purchased at least 10 kilograms of cutting agents from several Chinese companies, which could yield more than 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixture, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to prosecutors, Rayford allegedly stored some of the illegal substance at a residence in Ohio.

“We’re done playing Whac-A-Mole,” Patel said during the press conference.

He also said that the indictment targeted “an enterprise-wide system in mainland China.”

China-Based Companies

The four Chinese companies indicted are Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical, Guangzhou Wanjiang Biotechnology, Hebei Hongjun New Material Technology, and Hebei Feilaimi Technology. The indictment said the companies were “businesses that purport to operate as online pharmacies or chemical companies that sell legitimate pharmaceuticals and chemical compounds around the world.”

They allegedly offered to sell several cutting agents, including two Schedule I controlled substances, protonitazene and metonitazene, according to the filing.

Another cutting agent was xylazine, the indictment states, which acts as a sedative when administered to animals such as cattle, sheep, and horses during diagnostic and surgical procedures. It is also known as “tranq” and a “zombie drug” when used as a street drug.

Prosecutors said the companies allegedly used Chinese foreign nationals located outside of China to “solicit, negotiate, and secure payments” for the cutting agents from U.S. customers.

According to the court document, some of the indicted Chinese nationals allegedly marketed their companies’ cutting agents through the internet and social media platforms.

Rayford and Davis had allegedly helped Payne transfer more than $60,00 in cryptocurrency to Chinese nationals associated with Chinese companies since 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Of the 22 Chinese defendants, the FBI has placed 16, who are all located in China, on its most wanted list.

The 16 individuals—Huang Zhanpeng, Huang Xiaojun, Yao Meixiang, Feng Yuqing, Zhao Lihui, Jiang Shanhong, Sun Dongjing, Nong Chengqi, Wei Tiduo, Nie Zhisong, Zhu Jichao, Yin Zhengzhe, Du Changgen, Wang Hongfei, Yao Huatao, and Gao Xuening—are affiliated with Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical, according to the FBI.

The names of the remaining six Chinese defendants are Fnu Lnu, also known as “Anna Sofia,” Yang Yan, Zhang Fengdi, Xia Dehui, Chen Xing Wu, and Wang Qing Lin.

When asked about extraditing the Chinese defendants during the press conference, Gerace said that the United States does not have an extradition agreement with China.

“We will be taking the steps that we need to take to put red notices in on these individuals,” Gerace said. “So in the event that they travel outside of China and are picked up in a country where we can extradite from, we'll be ready to do that.”

Elena Iatarola, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cincinnati field office, said at the press conference that the investigation into the case started in January 2024 as a joint effort between the FBI and DEA in Dayton, Ohio.

“Their greed for money has harmed citizens in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and every town in between in southern Ohio,” Iatarola said, referring to the defendants.

All 29 defendants are charged with conspiring with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture and conspiring to launder money internationally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Payne faces an additional charge of possessing, with intent to distribute, 400 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture and tampering with evidence. Rayford is also charged with maintaining a drug-involved premises, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Epoch Times contacted Payne’s lawyer for comment but didn’t receive a response by publication time. The Epoch Times was unable to find contact information for the other defendants or their legal representatives.

Sanctions

Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Guangzhou Tengyue and two of the company’s representatives, Huang Xiaojun and Huang Zhanpeng, who are among the 22 indicted, on Sept. 3.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we will use all of the tools at our disposal—including sanctions and prosecutions by our law enforcement partners—to stop this epidemic,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in a statement.

Huang Zhanpeng is the company’s executive director, and Huang Xiaojun is the account holder of the company’s bitcoin account, according to the Treasury.

The Treasury noted that Guangzhou Tengyue and Huang Xiaojun were indicted in Florida in October 2024 but that the company continued to operate.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said, “China plays a central role in this crisis, not merely by failing to stem the ultimate source of many illicit drugs distributed in the United States, but by actively sustaining and expanding the business of poisoning our citizens.”