CHICAGO, IL – In a shocking crackdown on online narcotics sales, two suburban Chicago residents were charged with federal drug offenses for illegally selling fentanyl or fentanyl precursors over the internet.
Liangfu ‘Larry’ Huang, 53, of Northbrook, Ill., was arrested Wednesday night after arriving at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on a flight from China. Huang used his company, Ark Pharm Inc., to sell controlled substances, including a fentanyl precursor, over the internet despite not registering with federal or state authorities, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in federal court in Chicago.
Ark Pharm, which is based in Arlington Heights, Ill., offered various drugs for sale on its website (http://www.arkpharminc.com). Huang is charged with one count of conspiracy to knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, a controlled substance.
In a related case, Wei Xu, also known as ‘Scarlett Hsu,’ used her company, 1717 CheMall Corp., to illegally sell fentanyl and other controlled substances without registering with federal or state authorities, according to the complaint against her. 1717 CheMall Corp., which is based in Mundelein, Ill., offered various drugs for sale on its website (http://www.1717chem.com), including the opioids ocfentanil, oxycodone and hydrocodone.
Visitors to the website could search for a drug and order it from the site’s ‘estore,’ the complaint states. Xu, 52, of Vernon Hills, Ill., was arrested Wednesday. She is charged with one count of knowingly distributing a controlled substance.
Law enforcement agents carried out court-authorized searches of Ark Pharm’s and 1717 CheMall’s businesses and seized their websites. The charges were announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions; John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Brian McKnight, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and Gabriel L. Grchan, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.
‘Synthetic opioids killed 20,000 Americans in 2016–more than any other kind of drug,’ said Attorney General Sessions. ‘The vast majority of these drugs originated in China and then either shipped through the mail or smuggled across our porous Southwest Border. Under President Trump’s strong leadership, the Justice Department has taken historic new steps to target Chinese drug traffickers, and today’s indictments are our next step.’
The exact dollar amounts involved in the online narcotics sales were not specified in the press release. Huang and Xu are currently awaiting sentencing and are facing significant prison time if convicted.
The charges announced today are the result of an exhaustive and far-reaching investigation, said U.S. Attorney Lausch.
‘Powerful pharmaceutical medications, fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances are creating a chokehold on our society,’ said Special Agent-in-Charge McKnight. ‘Today’s enforcement actions send a clear message to those who utilize the internet to poison our communities: We will find you and you will be held accountable.’
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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