U.S. Moves to Crack Down on Money Behind Fentanyl Trade

The Biden administration said on Monday that it was creating a “counter-fentanyl strike force” within the Treasury Department to combat trafficking of the drug into the United States by more aggressively scrutinizing the finances of suspected narcotics dealers. The Treasury’s office of terrorism and financial intelligence and the criminal investigation unit of the Internal Revenue Service will lead the new team. It will attempt to find and disrupt money laundering associated with fentanyl trafficking and to more effectively crack down on sanctions violations. Officials from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network…

U.S. Charges 4 Chinese Firms With Selling Chemicals to Make Fentanyl

Four chemical companies based in China and eight Chinese nationals have been charged with trafficking chemicals used by Mexican drug cartels to manufacture vast quantities of fentanyl later sold in the United States, federal officials said on Friday. The officials said that two of the Chinese defendants — the principal executive and marketing manager of one of the companies — had been arrested recently overseas and taken to Hawaii for a court appearance, and that they would be brought to Manhattan to face prosecution. The new indictments unsealed on Friday…