Sammy followed a popular rite of passage when he left his village in Sichuan province to attend university in northern China more than a decade ago.
He was the first person in his family to go to university, where he graduated with a degree in English. She was passionate about foreign languages and she dreamed of being a teacher. She had never heard of them before. synthetic opioids.
After graduating, Sammy found a job at a chemical company in the Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, selling what she thought were chemicals to customers around the world. She practiced English every day when she talked to her clients online and earned a commission for every sale she made.
Her dream of becoming a teacher quickly faded.
“Maybe others are like me… At first we don’t know what we sell, but when we found out, we fell in love with the work,” he said. “With this job you can make money.”
Sammy [nombre ficticio] is one of thousands of online sales representatives that international security agencies estimate work for illicit Chinese pharmaceutical and chemical companies, which produce and smuggle illegal drugs manufactured in laboratories.
Fentanyl in the US
The US government has long accused China of flooding the country with deadly drugs like fentanyla synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin, which has been denied by the Chinese government.
Washington claims that Chinese-made opioids are fueling the worst drug crisis in US history. In 2022, more than 70,000 Americans will die from fentanyl overdose.
According to a report released by the US House of Representatives on the Chinese Communist Party, the Beijing government provides subsidies to companies that openly traffic in illicit synthetic drugs.
Report warns of tens of thousands of online posts advertising illegal drugs and drug precursor substances.
The study states that “fully state-owned” companies are involved in drug trafficking. The Chinese government has consistently denied any knowledge of illegal drug trafficking.
The sellers
Many like Sammy fall into drug trafficking apparently by accident, initially without being aware of the type of products they sell online and their deadly consequences. However, others are more conscious about what they sell.
Every morning, Sara [nombre ficticio] posts photos and videos on their social media platforms advertising drugs: synthetic cannabinoids, MDMA (ecstasy) precursors, and nitazenesa synthetic opioid up to 50 times more potent than even fentanyl.
“We have many clients in the United Kingdom and we have collaborated with them many times,” boasts Sara, who has a degree in International Business and now works on an online platform.
When questioned about what she does, she does not engage in a moral discussion about selling drugs. She claims that she never asks customers how they use what she sells.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) believes that drug traffickers are mixing the synthetic opioid with illegal drugs such as heroin.
According to the NCA, there have been more than 100 deaths linked to nitazenes in the last nine months, prompting health professionals to warn that the UK could be facing a drugs crisis.
Internet advertisements
The BBC found hundreds of ads for nitazenes on the internet. The contacted suppliers offer to ship through courier services, incorrectly labeling deliveries and hiding drugs in false packaging.
The BBC also found courier tracking numbers provided by an online sales representative in China, who claims to have made successful deliveries throughout the UK.
Sara entered the business after college. She thought she was selling chemicals. She has worked in the industry for two and a half years. “I know most of the products,” she says.
“My boss has run this company for over seven years and knows many customers and distributors. If the product is withheld, he will lose the most. Therefore, he will do everything possible to ensure that the product reaches you without problems,” he adds.
In March, the British government classified 15 synthetic opioids as Class A drugs. Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, anyone caught supplying or producing drugs could face a sentence of imprisonment. life imprisonment. Those caught in possession of drugs face charges of up to seven years in prison.
Industrial growth
According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)China has between 40,000 and 100,000 pharmaceutical companies.
“China has long had one of the largest pharmaceutical industries in Asia, as well as one of the largest chemical industries. And we have seen growth in the industry in other countries in the region,” he said. Jeremy Douglas at the end of 2023, the then regional representative in Southeast Asia and the Pacific of UNODC.
“While both industries are regulated, the challenge is significant given the magnitude and, at the same time, there are several ways to move products. Postal packages, air transportation and shipping containers They move globally in large volumes,” he explained.
Douglas claims that synthetic drugs are distorting the traditional drug trade. Outside China, synthetic drugs offer opportunities for both traditional criminal organizations and new companies, able to buy directly from producers located on the other side of the world.
“Synthetic (drugs) like fentanyl They have several advantages over traditional drugs: They are compact, easily transportable, have a pre-existing demand and are replaceable. They are attractive to traffickers“.
This was confirmed in my conversations with salespeople working for Chinese pharmaceutical companies.
“Firstly, our packaging is completely secret, no one knows what it is until it is opened. And second, we changed the name of the package and did not reveal any name about the product,” says Sara.
“We receive the logistics order number when we send the package, we follow it at all times and any anomaly can be detected and resolved in time,” he adds.
“Criminal enterprise”
According to Europol, the European police agency, China is the largest manufacturer and distributor of laboratory-made synthetic drugs in the world. Some mimic the effects of traditional drugs such as cannabis or cocaine. Chemists synthesize new drugs to stay one step ahead of the law.
“It is a criminal enterprise, but in a legitimate framework that is truly unique,” says Dr. Louise Shelly, director of the Center for Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption (TraCCC) from George Mason University and author of the book Dark Commerce (Dark Trade).
“I haven’t seen such professionalism and even a corporate element to this anywhere else in the world. “Criminal activity offers a type of social mobility,” he points out.
In 2020, TraCCC researchers studied more than 350 English-language websites offering fentanyl. “Of all the ads we found, almost 40% came from corporate records and the largest center of them was in Wuhan,” says Shelly.
Only “intermediaries”
Dealers contacted by the BBC see drug trafficking as simply another aspect of the e-commerce. When she was questioned about selling drugs that harm lives, one of them described herself as a “intermediary“.
“Someone needs it, someone makes it and I’m just a middleman letting customers know I have it and I don’t care what they do with it,” she says. “Then I realized I just needed to make money. “Everyone has their own needs.”
The woman boasts of having clients since Canada until Croatia. Provided photographs of recent drug shipments with labels showing an address in United Kingdom.
“At first I didn’t know until I went online and translated the product into Chinese,” he says in a message with a crying emoji.
“This sector is easy and you can get higher salaries, which attracts a large number of young people,” says Natalie [nombre ficticio]another seller that focuses on fentanyl.
“We buy from more than 10 different laboratories and have a great selection. “I have a professional shipping agent who packages the products, so I have a very high delivery success rate in the UK,” he says.
Meanwhile, another supplier claimed to be able smuggling drugs into the UK hidden in dog food packaging. “You don’t need to worry about packaging. We guarantee safe delivery.”
“We ship large quantities all over the world every day. Trust our professional team. We guarantee 100% safe transportation,” he says.
In 2019, the Chinese government banned all forms of fentanyl and its analogs. In January 2024, China and the United States launched a joint operation to curb production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
“As long as market demand remains high in some parts of the world, that demand will be met one way or another,” warned Jeremy Douglas of the United Nations.
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