Chinese labs are selling fentanyl ingredients for millions in crypto
The Elliptic report notes that the tens of millions of dollars worth of precursor sales it tracked on blockchains would likely be enough to manufacture enough fentanyl to, if distributed efficiently, kill every person on earth… the US government may be increasingly aware of the activity of fentanyl precursor sellers in China and of cryptocurrency’s role, but so far the US has acted on a scale far smaller than the industry Elliptic has uncovered.
Chinese chemical producers are accepting cryptocurrency as payment for fentanyl ingredients they’re selling to drug operations that mass-produce the narcotic in countries around the world. And they’re offering it not on the dark web, but in full public view… cryptocurrency-tracing firm Elliptic… released new findings that offer a glimpse of an underreported role of cryptocurrency in the global fentanyl trade: the wholesale supply of ingredients to fentanyl producers around the world. Researchers at Elliptic found more than 90 Chinese chemical companies that sold fentanyl “precursor” chemicals and advertised their products on the open web, fully 90 percent of which offered to accept payment in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Tether.
Original Article (Wired & Elliptic):
Chinese labs are selling fentanyl ingredients for millions in crypto & Chinese businesses fueling the fentanyl epidemic receive tens of millions in crypto payments
Artwork Fair Use: Public domain
