In a sign of growing cooperation between the US and China in the wake of
last week’s summit in Beijing, the US Justice Department announced on Wednesday the arrest in China of an alleged drug smuggler wanted by the US in connection with a sizeable shipment of illegal drugs into the US state of Georgia.
As outlined in court records, Wei Gong, also known as David Gong, allegedly imported more than 10 kilograms of various potent stimulant drugs, which he allegedly sold to an undercover agent and another defendant.
According to the
Justice Department, the US alerted Chinese authorities to Gong’s alleged activities in January, leading to his February arrest in China, where he faces related Chinese charges. There is no indication that Gong will be extradited to the US, but the cooperation and its public acknowledgement are unusual between the two wary giants.
“This arrest demonstrates the strength of international cooperation in disrupting global drug trafficking networks,” said Special Agent Jae Chung with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division. “Working alongside our law enforcement counterparts in China, we were able to identify and hold accountable an individual responsible for attempting to exploit the Port of Savannah.”
Gong, aged 45 and a resident of Tianjin, also allegedly advertised other drugs, including fentanyl analogues, and reportedly planned to bring some 1,000 kilograms through the Georgia port. Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of
cryptocurrency seized during the investigation through the criminal indictment and a related civil forfeiture case.
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The Justice Department did not disclose how much crypto was seized. However, it did say that records indicated Gong engaged in “millions of dollars in transactions” between 2020 and his arrest earlier this year. The indictment also said the US seized at least, “but not limited to”, 1.00001188 bitcoin. At current values, that would be worth around US$77,200.
South China Morning Post
