Inside A High-security Chinese Factory Pumping Out Fentanyl

2 weeks ago

YICHANG, China — Behind a ample solid wall, a worker successful afloat protective cogwheel watches arsenic hundreds of mini solid bottles whizz by each minute, sterilized, filled and packaged by a ballet of robotic arms.

Inside each ampule is nan constituent astatine nan bosom of nan geopolitical strife betwixt nan United States and China: fentanyl, nan deadly opioid group to beryllium apical of nan schedule erstwhile Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet Thursday.

NBC News sewage exclusive entree to nan office of Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical, nan largest shaper of nan supplier successful China, and so Asia, astatine its sprawling analyzable successful nan cardinal metropolis of Yichang.

Humanwell says that it only supplies fentanyl for usage successful hospitals and that it does not export immoderate medicine to nan United States, Mexico aliases Canada. In 51 years of operating, “we person ne'er had a azygous incident of a supplier going missing — not a azygous dose has ever been lost,” its president, Du Wentao, said successful an question and reply wrong his factory, which is surrounded by precocious fences wrapped successful concertina ligament and electrical sensors.

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Humanwell Healthcare is 1 of only 5 companies successful China licensed to nutrient fentanyl for usage successful hospitals, and it makes astir 100 cardinal doses of fentanyl variants each year.

After a strict registration process to get past nan main gate, each visitors and unit alike — including nan CEO — are required to deterioration bluish infirmary caps, footwear covers and laboratory coats to guarantee they do not contaminate nan workspace.

Most of nan accumulation statement is automated to limit quality contact, pinch nan vials being washed and sterilized and past filled pinch fentanyl utilizing agelong rubber tubes.

Two staffers successful protective cogwheel supervised nan process, pinch an siren pinging each 10 minutes to punctual them to spray their gloved hands pinch disinfectant. The vials are past inspected utilizing flashes of light, stamped, boxed up and shipped retired via a warehouse.

Trump says fentanyl will beryllium nan taxable of nan “first question” he asks erstwhile he meets pinch Xi successful South Korea, nan past extremity of his three-country Asian tour.

American officials opportunity nan Chinese authorities hasn’t done capable to stem nan illicit world travel of precursor chemicals for fentanyl, which are past processed into nan highly addictive opioid successful Mexican labs and smuggled crossed nan separator to nan United States. Though deaths look to beryllium declining successful nan U.S., fentanyl and different synthetic opioids person killed hundreds of thousands of Americans successful caller years, according to nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump, who cited fentanyl arsenic nan logic for imposing nan first 20% successful tariffs connected China since retaking agency successful January, said Wednesday that he believed China is “going to thief america pinch nan fentanyl situation” and that tariffs would beryllium lowered accordingly.

China has defended its anti-fentanyl efforts and says unrelenting American request for nan supplier is to blasted for nan crisis.

But a State Department study to Congress past month accused nan ruling Chinese Communist Party of continuing to “subsidize and different incentivize China-based companies to export synthetic supplier precursors, including done taxation rebates, monetary grants and awards, and charismatic tract visits.” It accused companies controlled by nan Communist Party of being “complicit successful this illicit trade.”

Under unit from Trump, China made fentanyl a controlled constituent successful 2019, banning its usage extracurricular of aesculapian prescriptions. That slowed nan influx of Chinese fentanyl into nan U.S., but nan “prolific export of chemic precursors and different illicit narcotics remains,” nan State Department study said.

Chinese officials cull that narrative.

“China expresses sympathy for nan American group suffering from nan fentanyl crisis,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters successful Beijing connected Wednesday.

But he added that “China is nan state astir resolute successful supplier control, pinch nan astir broad policies and nan champion way record. It is besides 1 of nan countries pinch nan largest number of controlled substances and nan strictest regulations successful nan world.”

Du, nan president of Humanwell Healthcare, which produces 100 cardinal doses annually of fentanyl-based products, says that nan meticulously clean, automated and controlled cognition observed by NBC News was nary facade.

“The guidance of fentanyl narcotics successful China is among nan strictest successful nan world,” he said. “There is perfectly nary anticipation that immoderate dose from our institution has flowed to nan United States. I tin authorities this pinch afloat assurance and certainty — location is nary rumor whatsoever.”

He derided nan "many statements successful nan U.S. claiming that nan fentanyl situation originates from China," saying that is intolerable "given really strict our controls are."

As good arsenic nan sojourn to Humanwell, NBC News gained exclusive entree to nan National Narcotics Intelligence Center successful Beijing, which had been sanctioned by Washington successful 2020 but saw those measures lifted 3 years later during nan Biden management arsenic nan 2 countries agreed to resume practice connected fentanyl.

There, Chinese information officials said nan 2 sides are again exchanging accusation connected really smugglers change their tactics.

Fentanyl precursors are "indeed 1 of our main concerns because supplier synthesis techniques and methods are perpetually evolving," laboratory head Hua Zhendong told NBC News.

"We person not recovered specified processing plants domestically," he said, truthful "most of nan applicable accusation comes from method exchanges pinch U.S. counterparts."

Hua said nan latest precursor chemicals identified by nan U.S. “are added to our monitoring database truthful we tin fortify our attraction to these substances."

He said that banning each fentanyl products extracurricular aesculapian usage successful 2019 had "effectively curbed forbidden accumulation and trafficking."

U.S. officials opportunity that's not nan case. The grade to which Washington and Beijing tin find communal crushed connected nan rumor is apt to power nan consequence of Trump and Xi's gathering this week, though experts opportunity halting nan illicit travel of fentanyl components is easier said than done

“I deliberation location is an presumption present that if nan Chinese really wanted to unopen disconnected these precursors, they could do it,” said Michael Swaine, a elder investigation chap successful nan East Asia Program astatine nan Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a Washington-based deliberation tank.

The problem, he said, is that location is nary “set number” of precursors to fentanyl.

“You don't person a clear database of circumstantial items that you would beryllium capable to easy interdict,” Swaine said. “And a batch of them, of course, are very dual-use items.”

So while location mightiness beryllium a “symbolic effort” to woody pinch nan fentanyl rumor astatine nan Trump-Xi meeting, he said, “I don't deliberation that this is going to spell wholly away.”