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More People Charged in International Fentanyl Operation

by Associated Press

   FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA --

   U.S. prosecutors have charged 10 more people in an international
   fentanyl trafficking operation they say led to overdose deaths in four
   states.

   Authorities have now accused a total of 32 people of trafficking large
   amounts of the powerful opioid in the U.S. and Canada. Five are
   fugitive Chinese nationals.

   Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the announcement Friday in North
   Dakota, where the first death occurred in 2015. Deaths have also been
   reported in North Carolina, New Jersey and Oregon.

   Sessions says the Treasury Department also has sanctioned the five
   Chinese nationals, including the man alleged to be the conspiracy
   leader, along with his biotechnology company. Any assets in which they
   have an interest must be reported to the department.

   It's the first time the department has sanctioned an alleged fentanyl
   trafficker.