GARLAND: all right good afternoon I'm
joined today by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco DEA administrator Anne Milgram
U.S attorney for the southern district of New York Damien Williams and U.S attorney for
the eastern district of New York Breon Peace. When I announced in April the justice department
had taken significant enforcement actions against the Sinaloa cartel I promised that the justice
department would never forget the victims of the fentanyl epidemic. I also promised that we would
never stop working to hold accountable those who bear responsibility for it that includes not
only going after the leaders of the cartels their drug and gun traffickers their money
launderers security forces and clandestine lab operators it also includes stopping the
Chinese chemical companies that are supplying the cartels with the building blocks they need
to manufacture deadly Fentanyl. we are targeting every step of the movement manufacturing
and sale of fentanyl from start to finish to that end we are announcing several enforcement
actions the justice department has taken to disrupt the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals
from China to Mexico and the United States. in three separate indictments we have charged
for the first time ever four chemical companies based in China and eight Chinese Nationals for
the trafficking of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States these companies
and their employees knowingly conspired to manufacture deadly fentanyl for distribution in
the United States. as alleged in our filings just one of these china-based chemical companies
shipped more than 200 kilograms of fentanyl related precursor chemicals to the U.S for the
purpose of making 50 kilograms of fentanyl, a quantity that could contain enough deadly
doses of fentanyl to kill 25 million Americans first as outlined in the indictment unsealed
today in the southern district of New York we have brought charges against the china-based
manufacturer and supplier of fentanyl precursor chemicals its principal executive and two of
its employees for their role in international fentanyl trafficking conspiracy as outlined in the
indictment we allege that the defendants openly advertise the sale of fentanyl precursors online
and sought to evade law enforcement detection by using deceptive Packaging. they went as far as
to guarantee quote “100 percent stealth shipping” and they provided proof of their success on
their websites including a screenshot of a shipping confirmation to Culiacán Mexico
the Sinaloa cartel's base of operations. the indictment also details correspondence
and in-person meetings between the defendants and an individual purporting to be a fentanyl
trafficker in Mexico with operations in the U.S in one message one of the defendants responded
to the admission that the chemicals were being used to make fentanyl and that it was not safe
with quote “I know” in another conversation which took place earlier this month, two
of the defendants allegedly discussed the need to take additional measures to protect
themselves from detection and interdiction following a recent enforcement action by the
U.S government. this was an apparent reference to the charges that I announced against members
and Associates of the Sinaloa cartel in April one of the defendants indicated that the U.S
government had quote “seized some Mexican group” and quote “followed the roots to China”
which was quote “bad news for us.” over the past eight months the defendants are alleged to
have shipped more than 200 kilograms of fentanyl related precursor chemicals to the U.S in order
to make 50 kilograms of fentanyl as I said this is a quantity that could contain enough deadly
doses of fentanyl to kill 25 million Americans what the defendants did not know at the time is
that the purported traffickers they were dealing with were in fact DEA confidential sources and
the 200 kilograms of fentanyl related precursors they ship to the U.S were received by DEA agents.
two of the defendants the principal executive of the chemical company and one of its employees
have been arrested by federal law enforcement additionally in two separate indictments in the
eastern district of New York we have charged three other companies based in China and five of
their employees with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl as alleged in the indictments
each of these companies also supplies precursor chemicals to the U.S and Mexico among other
places knowing they will be used to produce fentanyl or other controlled substances. like
the company charged in the southern district of New York all three of these companies openly
advertise their products all over the world and guarantee that the products they send to the US
and Mexico will not be detected or intercepted to fulfill this guarantee they likewise
employ deceptive and fraudulent practices such as mislabeling packages and making
false declarations at border crossings. but these companies also went a step further
to evade testing protocols and relevant regulations they added what are known as masking
molecules to their fentanyl precursor chemicals once these masking molecules are added the
chemical signature of the precursor is changed that means when it's shipped it appears to
be a new, non-fentanyl precursor substance upon receipt of the shipment however
the purchaser is able to easily remove the masking molecules and return the chemical
to its original form as a fentanyl precursor. as alleged in the indictment these companies not
only produced and distributed masked precursors but also provided instructions about how to
remove the masking molecules upon receipt the actions we are announcing today should
make clear that the U.S justice department is accelerating our efforts to disrupt the
manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl at every stage and in every part of the world. our
agents and prosecutors are working relentlessly to get fentanyl out of our communities and
hold accountable those who put it there. in 2022, the DEA together with our federal
state and local law enforcement Partners seized more than 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake
prescription pills that is more than double the amount seized in 2021 the DEA has also seized
more than ten thousand pounds of fentanyl powder together these seizures represent more than 379
million potentially deadly doses of Fentanyl. that much fentanyl could
kill every single American. we are also putting our resources to work to
confront the public health challenges of addiction and substance abuse by supporting prevention and
treatment programs the U.S government continues to do everything in our power to disrupt fentanyl
trafficking and prevent more of our communities from being devastated by the fentanyl epidemic we
also continue to strongly urge the PRC government to take decisive action to address the role that
china-based chemical and pharmaceutical companies play in fentanyl drug production and trafficking
We Stand ready to work together to address this Global challenge. I want to thank the DEA agents
for the extraordinary work that they did on these cases and for the difficult work they do every
day to protect our communities from deadly drugs I'm also grateful to the U.S attorney's offices
for the Southern and Eastern districts of New York and to the office of international Affairs
of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. I'll now turn the podium over to
Deputy attorney general Monaco MONACO: good afternoon. Thank you Mr. Attorney General. Two months ago, the Attorney General
and I pledged to employ every tool in the government's Arsenal at every stage of the
fentanyl supply chain in every part of the globe to protect American communities. today's
announcement is a down payment on that pledge it breaks new ground by attacking the
fentanyl supply chain at its origin. for the first time we are charging Chinese
chemical companies and their employees for conspiring to manufacture and Export fentanyl
precursor chemicals and circumvent Customs laws fentanyl poses a singular threat not only because
the smallest of doses can be lethal but because fentanyl does not occur in nature. it is entirely
man-made and in potentially Limitless Supply. so with our partners across government and
across the globe the Department of Justice is working relentlessly to dismantle the global
Supply and delivery chain that floods fentanyl into American communities. the fentanyl
supply chain all too often begins in China where the chemical ingredients for fentanyl
are produced and exported by the ton we allege the Chinese chemical companies charge
today combined scientific know-how with deception to circumvent Customs barriers and ship
precursors onto our Shores and Mexico's. the cartels use those ingredients to manufacture
fentanyl which they then push into our communities using social media to Market pills
and cryptocurrency to launder profits. today's charges make clear that those who feed
the fentanyl supply chain cannot hide behind the facade of legitimate business when companies and
employees including those in the c-suite knowingly fuel the fentanyl crisis they will be held to
account we will expose them as drug traffickers. so let me be clear the justice department will not
rest or relent in investigating and Prosecuting every link of the fentanyl supply chain in every
corner of the globe. there can be no Safe Haven. as we've seen in our efforts to combat terrorism
and cyber crime we do more when we move together. that's why continued collaboration with Mexico is
crucial and why we've dedicated more resources to support Mexico's Frontline fentanyl prosecutors
and that's why we're strengthening our efforts to stem the southbound flow of illicit high-powered
Firearms across our Southern border firearms that fuel violence in Mexico and Empower cartels to
expand their deadly drug trade back into the United States and that's why we will continue
to call on the Chinese government to hold PRC companies accountable for the global harm they are
causing and today's charges allege those charged knew that they were breaking Chinese law as well
as our own more broadly compelling evidence shows that PRC companies are selling vast quantities of
precursor chemicals to the drug cartels the United States has urged the PRC to address the serious
problem of illicit synthetic drug production and trafficking. we renew that call today this is a
global problem that Demands a global solution. finally I want to say a word about the role
of social media in these indictments the precursor sellers brazenly advertised on
social media platforms the department has encouraged social media platforms to enforce
their terms of service and remove this content we've encouraged social media platforms to work
with us to address this public safety emergency we will continue to work with these companies so
that they can better police their own platforms until they no longer serve as super highways of
drug trafficking. several major platforms are now working productively with us on this and
we urge those who are not to join this fight. today's actions are the result of the
hard work of the women and men of the DEA and the tenacious prosecutors from the
Eastern and Southern districts of New York. it is a privilege to work with them let me now
turn the podium over to the DEA administrator MILGRAM: thank you good afternoon thank you attorney
general Garland and Deputy attorney general Monaco fentanyl is the greatest threat to Americans today it is devastating families across our country
and killing Americans from all walks of life and it is the leading cause of death for Americans
between the ages of 18 to 45. The Drug Enforcement Administration is actively targeting every single
aspect of the global fentanyl supply chain so that we can put an end to the most devastating
drug crisis that our country has ever seen the two drug cartels that are responsible for
the influx of fentanyl into the United States the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels work with chemical
companies based in the People's Republic of China to get their raw materials those companies and
the individuals who work for them provide drug traffickers with the necessary ingredients to
make fentanyl chemicals called to make fentanyl chemicals called fentanyl precursors nearly
all fentanyl precursors are manufactured and shipped from China today for the first time ever
we have charged four PRC companies with fentanyl trafficking conspiracy we have also charged eight
PRC Nationals who work for those companies and we have taken two of them into custody we have
also seized more than 200 kilograms of fentanyl precursors in this operation alone enough
to make millions of deadly doses of Fentanyl make no mistake the charge defendants
knew exactly what they were doing as alleged in the indictments unsealed today
the defendants provided their customers with the blueprints for making fentanyl a poison that is
killing Americans they provided the chemicals they gave advice on how to mix them they made changes
to the recipe when an ingredient wasn't available they told a customer to substitute one ingredient
for another to make twice as much Fentanyl they employed chemists to troubleshoot
when customers had questions they mislabeled packages and falsified Customs
forms to get the chemicals across borders they even disguise the chemicals at a
molecular level adding a molecule to mask the precursors so they would not be detected
as banned substances during transport and they taught their customers how to remove that
molecule after they received the chemicals as alleged these defendants gave their customers
the raw materials and the scientific know-how to make fentanyl and they knew exactly who they
were working with they talked freely about having clients in America and Mexico and specifically in
Sinaloa Mexico where the Sinaloa cartel is based these cases show that fentanyl precursors are
cheap in just one example a defendant sold two kilograms of fentanyl precursors for approximately
one thousand US dollars those same prosecutors can yield 1.75 million lethal doses of Fentanyl
basically that means that the price per lethal dose is less than one cent the amount of fentanyl
that can be made today depends only on the amount of precursor chemicals that can be purchased and
at prices like these the amounts are Limitless and these cases show that fentanyl
precursors are easily bought online these companies advertise fentanyl precursors
on social media on Facebook and on LinkedIn they used encrypted applications like WhatsApp to
speak with customers and to coordinate shipments they disguise the shipments as legitimate
Goods with fake labels and falsified Customs paperwork that said that what was inside
was dog food or raw cosmetic materials when in fact they were fentanyl precursors
and they took payment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to try to hide who they were
and to make it harder to follow the money this is the unprecedented threat we are dealing
with synthetic man-made chemicals advertised on social media coordinated through encrypted
Communications paid for in cryptocurrency shipped as powders and that is why more than a hundred and
ten thousand Americans died from drug poisonings last year alone today's indictments Target the
threat where it starts I want to thank the men and women of the dea's Special Operations Division
bilateral Investigation Unit the dea's New York field division and the dea's New York drug
enforcement task force I also want to thank our partners the prosecutors in the southern district
of New York and the eastern district of New York as well as our five other DEA offices who assisted
with this investigation I also want to thank our law enforcement Partners at the Royal Thai police
and the Fiji police force for their assistance in this investigation today's charges continue dea's
work to Target the global fentanyl supply chain in April we announced the indictment of 28
members and Associates of the Sinaloa cartel and we track them across the globe from China to
Central America to Mexico to the United States in may we announced the arrests of 3337
Associates of the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels from a one-year operation across the United
States. after those announcements one of the defendants in this case told a confidential
source that was quote “bad news for us” we know that the criminals are watching here is
our message to them there is more bad news coming with every investigation with every
indictment we are coming after you and we will not relent until this fight until this
crisis ends thank you and it's now my privilege to introduce to you today the U.S attorney for the
southern district of New York Damien Williams WILLIAMS: back in April when we announced
groundbreaking charges in the southern district of New York against members of the Sinaloa
cartel and others I said that case was the most important of my tenure as U.S attorney that's
because fentanyl is the law enforcement and Public Health crisis of our time the indictment unsealed
today in the southern district of New York is the next step in our fight against Fentanyl today
we target the very beginning of the fentanyl supply chain the Chinese manufacturers of the raw
chemicals used to make fentanyl and his analogues we've charged a Chinese precursor Chemical Company
and that's not all we've charged and arrested some of the individuals who work at the company that
includes a corporate executive and a marketing manager they're in American handcuffs and they're
going to face Justice in an American courtroom the company we've charged a Marvel biotech
sought to profit off an opioid epidemic that is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans
the company openly advertised and sold fentanyl pre-curricular chemicals knowing that these
chemicals were destined for New York City knowing that the chemicals would be turned into
Fentanyl and knowing that that poison could kill. over the course of this investigation a Marvel
biotech shipped to the United States more than 200 kilograms of precursor chemicals
used to make fentanyl and its analogues and for this company 200 kilograms was
apparently only a drop in the bucket as alleged in the indictment a Marvel biotech
has also made efforts of thwart law enforcement seizure of their shipments including deceptively
packaging precursor chemicals and containers for dog food or motor oil this indictment and
the other actions my office has announced recently made clear that we will hold accountable
every Link in this fentanyl distribution chain and we are not done we will continue to show that
our reach is long and that we will investigate charge and capture those who profit from this
poison I want to thank the attorney general and the deputy attorney general for their continued
commitment to combating the fentanyl crisis I also want to thank my friend Anne Milgram for her
leadership and thank her extraordinary team at DEA I want to thank our colleagues at the office
of international Affairs and finally I want to thank the sdny prosecutors who are handling
this case Xander Lee and Kevin Sullivan from my office's National Security and international
narcotics unit it's now my pleasure to turn the podium over to my friend Breon peace the U.S
attorney from the eastern district of New York PEACE: thank you U.S attorney Williams and good afternoon
today we unsealed two indictments collectively charging eight defendants including three Chinese
chemical companies and five Chinese Nationals with among other crimes conspiring to manufacture
and import fentanyl to the United States these indictments are among the first in the
nation but not the last involving companies that provide raw chemicals to drug traffickers
knowing that these chemicals will be used to make and distribute fentanyl in the United States.
these charges are the culmination of a year-long investigation which uncovered that the defendant
companies manufactured and stockpiled Fentanyl precursors the chemicals and substances used
to manufacture Fentanyl and employ chemists to help them market and sell the substances the
defending companies openly advertise their products all over the world including on social
media platforms and while the defendants largely sold the components of fentanyl most of which were
ostensibly legal they did so as conspirators and accomplices knowing these substances would
be used in a fentanyl manufacturing scheme as this prosecution shows that is a crime this
is akin to a company selling the components for a bomb knowing they would be used to
make an explosive we know too well that the witch's brew of fentanyl chemicals cooked
by the drug traffickers can be just as deadly the defendant sent their chemicals to the U.S and
Mexico by boat and air using public and private international mail and package carriers and to
prevent detection and interception of chemical products at the borders the defendant companies
employ deceptive and fraudulent practices such as mislabeling packages as other innocuous
products such as Cosmetics or food additives falsifying Customs forms and making
false declarations at border crossings the defendants also disguised known fentanyl
precursors to avoid detection and seizure by law enforcement by adding masking molecules
thereby changing the chemical signature of the underlying precursor chemicals to make
them harder to detect while passing through customs and other inspections these altered
substances could evade testing protocols and relevant regulations by appearing to be a
new substance such masking molecules are easily removed enabling the purchaser to
return the substance to its original form the defendants even provided instructions
about how to remove the masking molecules ensuring their customers were able to use the
band precursor chemicals to manufacture Fentanyl and the defendants gave instructions on how to
increase the amount of fentanyl the precursors would produce and advice on which chemicals
to buy to replace band precursor products. our investigation also revealed the defendant's
connections to Mexican drug cartels the defendants communicated with suspected Associates
of the Sinaloa cartel and CJNG in Mexico they advertise their quote best-selling products
in Mexico and even maintain warehouses in Mexico to store precursor chemicals the chemicals
provided by the defendant companies have enabled cartels and other drug trafficking organizations
to produce Fentanyl and clandestine Laboratories in Mexico on a massive scale for subsequent
distribution in the United States and elsewhere the materials and instructions provided by
the defending companies and companies like them have directly caused and contributed to the
influx of deadly fentanyl into the United States now the defendants hoped that by selling only the
components of Fentanyl or by masking the chemical structures of precursors or mislabeling their
products that they could Escape scrutiny and accountability this prosecution proves them wrong
and to the companies and the employees that Supply fentanyl precursor chemicals knowing that they
will be used to make illegal fentanyl you are drug suppliers and you're also drug traffickers we
will identify you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law the charges brought today
exemplify our office's battle against Fentanyl which is inflicting Untold tragedy in New
York City Long Island and Across the Nation we will not rest until this crisis is brought to
an end so I want to thank people who were involved in this investigation I want to first thank thank
you attorney general Garland Deputy attorney general Monaco and DEA administrator Milgram for
their leadership in combating the fentanyl crisis I'd also like to give special thanks to our law
enforcement and agency partners including DEA New York DEA Mexico DEA diversion control
division DEA special testing and research laboratory the United States Customs and Border
protections New York field office the Internal Revenue Services New York Division and United
States Postal Inspection Services of New York I'd also like to thank the team from
my office who have worked tirelessly to protect our community assistant United
States attorneys Francisco Navarro, Erik Paulsen, Chand Edwards-Balfour and Adam Amir
and investigator George Dietz thank you questions SPUNT: yes hi thank you I've uh on topic
and then an off topic on the on topic on fentanyl uh this is unique in the sense that
we're talking now companies before we talk more of individual people in cartels where does
this idea of going after companies fit into the overall picture of fighting fentanyl can more
companies should more companies be on on alert GARLAND: well the answer to that is
yes we are applying a network approach to this we are going to follow fentanyl
all the way from the precursor companies to importation either into Mexico or into the
United States to manufacturing clandestine labs to crossing the border or clandestein
labs in the United States to transfer within the United States to sales on the streets I'd
like to give administrator Milgram a chance to explain the strategy for a moment I promise
to get back to you on the other question. MILGRAM: um I would Echo what the attorney
general has said our approach right now our mission is simple to stop to save American
lives by stopping Fentanyl defeating the two cartels that are responsible and by working
relentlessly across the entire network of the global fentanyl supply chain which now which
is right now led by those two cartels that we mentioned the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels
as I said the amount of fentanyl that can be made is limited only by the amount of precursor
chemicals that can be purchased and used to make fentanyl and that's why we have to be relentless
at every single part of this supply chain and in particular starting where it begins which is with
the precursor chemicals that right now are coming mostly from the People's Republic of China there
are companies and individuals many of whom we've charged today other individuals we charged
as part of the chapitos indictment in April and we have many ongoing investigations
into every single part of the network that the attorney general just described
DAVID SPUNT: sure on my other question uh yesterday whistleblower testimony came out
from an IRS supervisory special agent current supervisory special agent who insists he was
in a meeting with U.S attorney David Weiss who in October 2022 claimed in front of multiple
people that he was told not to pursue the hunter Biden investigation not to bring charges in
2022 you said previously you've stayed out of the hunter Biden investigation it's been on
David Weiss to figure that out can you once and for all shed a little light that there seems
to be a little confusion on what's going on here GARLAND: I'd be happy to as I said at the outset
Mr Weiss Who was appointed by President Trump as the U.S attorney in Delaware and assigned this
matter during the previous administration would be permitted to continue his investigation and
to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any District in which he
wanted to. Mr. Weiss has since sent a letter to the house Judiciary Committee confirming that he
had that Authority. I don't know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing
a prosecution given that he has this Authority DAVID SPUNT: He was never told no.
GARLAND: I would say he was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own
GLENN THRUSH: um Mr Garland just to follow up on that um
one of the allegations of any of the IRS supervisors apparently made was involved
the fact that Mr Weiss reportedly wanted to uh have the powers you've conferred
on special counsels. was that request ever made and if so did you why did you reject it
GARLAND: it was not the only person with authority to make somebody a special counsel or refuse to
make somebody a special counsel as the Attorney General Mr Weiss never made that request to me
GLENN THRUSH: do you think that a special counsel can you explain the rationale
for not appointing a special counseling GARLAND: Mr Weiss had in fact more Authority
than a special counsel would had he has complete as he had and has complete Authority as I said to
bring a case anywhere he wants in his discretion. ALEX MALLIN: just an on topic question um what
do these indictments actually do to stop here I have an off topic as well unfortunately of
course but what what do these indictments do to actually stop these companies from operating
obviously um secretary blinken uh met with his Chinese counterparts recently did he bring up
um the need for these specific companies to be shuttered in China so they're not allowed to
do this further and to extradite um the people that were charged and are still in China
GARLAND: I don't have a readout from that meeting so I direct you to the state department
on on that question I think we're talking about a whole of government approach here we have
prosecutions we have arrests we have indictments we have sanctions by the treasury Department
we have diplomacy by the state department all together intended to make it difficult if not
impossible for the precursor companies to continue to send the fentanyl precursors to Mexico
ALEX MALLIN: you know on the off topic I mean but the exception of what you've said
today you've deferred all other questions related to the Hunter Biden investigation to
Mr Weiss Mr Weiss has declined to comment on any of this with the exception of his letter to
the house Judiciary that just says that he had the ultimate authority to charge and where to
charge but on these specific allegations that these whistleblowers have brought forward um
I think there's a very detailed um allegations would you authorize him to answer to some
of this more specific allegations that these IRS whistleblowers have come forward with?
GARLAND: Look I would support uh Mr Weiss um explaining or testifying on these matters when he deems it appropriate
CARRIE JOHNSON: Mr. Attorney General, republicans in Congress have flirted with the
idea of holding the FBI director and contempt it's become a talking point on the campaign
Trail the alleged corruption and the and the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies um
do the American people have cause to be concerned about the Integrity of the components
of this justice department and and what do you have to say about how they’re reacting?
GARLAND: I certainly understand that some have chosen to attack the Integrity of the justice
department as components and its employees by claiming that we do not treat like cases alike.
This constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to American democracy and essential
to the safety of the American people. Nothing could be further from the truth. You've all heard
me say many times that we make our cases based on the facts and the law these are not just words
these are what we live by they are the foundation of the way we make these decisions. The Agents of
the FBI as well as the DEA the ATF are Deputy U.S Marshals every day often at Great personal risk
protect the American people and secure its safety. Our cases are based on their work I could not be
more proud to work with them thank you thank you
