Chinese National Indicted In Florida For Allegedly Importing Deadly New Synthetic Opioid
by Tyler Durden
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - 09:45 PM
Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A Chinese national has been indicted by the federal authorities in Florida for his alleged role in a plot to import and distribute large quantities of a new synthetic opioid, protonitazene, which is “significantly more potent than fentanyl,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a May 11 statement.
An undated image of nitazene tablets in the hand of a police officer in Australia. (Australian Federal Police).
Jia Guo and Seven Schmidt, an associate from Las Vegas, Nevada, are charged with conspiracy to import protonitazene into the United States from China and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute protonitazene. “If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the two counts,” the attorney’s office said.
The pair allegedly began operating a drug trafficking operation in September 2024. In the statement, the attorney’s office said the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) had investigated the pair, with assistance from China’s Ministry of Public Security.
“The indictment alleges that a China-based supplier and a domestic distributor worked together to bring a deadly synthetic opioid into the United States and turn it into counterfeit pills for distribution across the country,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones said.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chinese-national-indicted-florida-allegedly-importing-deadly-new-synthetic-opioid
