Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times(emphasis ours),

A Chinese national has been indicted by the federal authorities in Florida for his alleged role in a plot to import and distribute large quantities of a new synthetic opioid, protonitazene,which is “significantly more potent than fentanyl,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a May 11 statement.

Jia Guo and Seven Schmidt, an associate from Las Vegas, Nevada, are charged with conspiracy to import protonitazene into the United States from China and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute protonitazene. “If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the two counts,” the attorney’s office said.

The pair allegedly began operating a drug trafficking operation in September 2024. In the statement, the attorney’s office said the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) had investigated the pair, with assistance from China’s Ministry of Public Security.

“The indictment alleges that a China-based supplier and a domestic distributor worked together to bring a deadly synthetic opioid into the United States and turn it into counterfeit pills for distribution across the country,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones said.

Guo allegedly procured the protonitazene in China and shipped it to co-conspirators, including an associate in Miami-Dade County,who used special presses to manufacture counterfeit pills, which were then distributed to drug dealers throughout the country.

Schmidt allegedly used the alias “Vegas” to order large amounts of the pills and had them delivered from Florida to Nevada by the U.S. Postal Service.

It was not immediately clear whether Schmidt or Guo had legal representatives who could comment on their behalf.

In September, Frank Tarentino, who heads the New York Division of the DEA, warned about the growing threat from new synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which are being imported from China. He said they are increasingly prevalent on the illicit drug scene.

Nitazenes are delivered in the form of counterfeit pills mimicking drugs such as Xanax or Percocet,accordingto the DEA. They are more resistant than fentanyl to naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.

Source: ZeroHedge News