US drugs bust uncovers enough Chinese fentanyl ‘to kill 14 million people’

The seizure of 30 kilograms of the opioid sent by a vendor in Shanghai comes in the wake of growing US efforts to stem the flow of drugs from China

Fentanyl can be stronger and more lethal than heroin and is responsible for tens of thousands of American drug deaths each year

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A US fentanyl user holds a needle used to inject the drug. Photo: AP

Published: 8:52am, 30 Aug 2019Updated: 10:33pm, 30 Aug 2019

Law enforcement officials in the US state of Virginia said on Thursday that they had taken down a multi-state drug ring and seized enough cheap fentanyl from China to kill 14 million people.

The bust was announced in the wake of growing efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl from Chinese labs to the United States.

Customs officials check items of mail for illegal drugs at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Photo: Washington Post

The synthetic opioid often comes through the mail or across the Mexico border. It can be stronger and more lethal than heroin and is responsible for tens of thousands of American drug deaths each year.

The 30 kilograms of fentanyl that were seized in the latest bust were intended for an area in southeastern Virginia known as the Peninsula, which includes the cities of Hampton and Newport News.

One of the 39 people charged is accused of ordering fentanyl from a vendor in Shanghai. The person then “had it mailed through the US Postal Service to a neighbourhood in Newport News,” G. Zachary Terwilliger, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said at a news conference in Norfolk.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Photo: AP