Federal authorities have indicted two Chinese nationals, Lisa Xing, 36, and Zhanwen Song, 38, on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, alleging they supplied synthetic drugs from China for distribution within U.S. correctional facilities. The Justice Department announced that the arrests were made in China following an investigation coordinated through an FBI-Chinese Ministry of Public Security counternarcotics working group.
According to prosecutors, Xing and Song allegedly shipped synthetic opioids, cannabinoids, and other drugs to co-defendants Adell Willis of Texas and Judy Ly of Michigan. Willis and Ly were previously indicted on charges including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The alleged scheme involved dissolving the drugs into liquid, soaking sheets of paper in the mixture, and then mailing the drug-infused paper to inmates in federal and state prisons across the United States.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated on social media platform X that the defendants trafficked "dangerous synthetic drugs from China into the United States — including smuggling them into our prison systems." He added that the FBI and Homeland Security Task Force partners would continue to disrupt such networks.
In conjunction with the U.S. investigation, China's Ministry of Public Security arrested Xing, Song, and 19 other alleged co-conspirators. Authorities in China also seized 475 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids and shut down four illicit manufacturing sites. U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs stated that the indictment alleges a collaboration between a China-based supplier and a domestic distributor to introduce deadly synthetic drugs into the U.S. for nationwide distribution.
If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with potential penalties extending up to life imprisonment.