Sammy was following a well-trodden rite of passage when she left her settlement in Chinese territory to study in a school in northeastern China ten years ago.
The second man in her family to attend college was an American student. She had a dream to become a teacher and had a passion for foreign language. She had not heard of the use of synthetic drugs.
Sammy left school and started working for a chemical company in Shijiazhuang, China, where she sold what she believed to be compounds to clients all over the world. She would speak English every day to her clients web and make money off of each sale she made. Her hopes of becoming a professor immediately vanished.
” Maybe others are just like me… At the start we do n’t know what we are selling, but when we find out we have fallen in love with the work,” she said. ” This work is make income,” she adds.
Sammy [not her real name ] is an implausible drug kingpin. She works for illegal Chinese pharmaceutical and chemical companies that produce and smuggle improper laboratory-made drugs, according to international law enforcement agencies, which employ hundreds of online sales associates.
According to the study, “wholly position owned” firms are involved in the smuggling of drugs. The Taiwanese government has consistently denied having any knowledge of the illegal drug trade.
Many people, including Sammy, enter the drug trade apparently by accident, unaware of the goods they sell online and the serious consequences they can cause. However, others are more conscious of the products they sell.
Sara [not her real name ] posts pictures and videos of medication every day on her social media accounts. chemical cannabinoids, predecessors for MDMA, and nitazenes, a chemical narcotic considered up to 50 times more potent than also fentanyl.
” We have some clients in Britain and have cooperated with them many days,” boasts Sara, an global trade student, then working for an online program.
When challenged, she is never drawn into a social debate about selling medicines. She claims that she never inquires about how consumers use the products she sells.
The UK National Crime and Agency (NCA ) claims that drug dealers combine street drugs like heroin and synthetic opioids.
There are literally thousands of nitazene advertisements online for the BBC. Customers contacted say to request expedited shipping, mislabelling deliveries, and concealing drugs in false packaging. Additionally, the BBC has seen mail tracking statistics that online sales representatives in China claim to include made timely sales throughout the UK.
Sara entered the business after school. She thought she was selling substances. She has been employed in the sector for two and a half times. ” I know most of the merchandise,” she says.
” My employer has run this business for more than seven years, and he is well-versed in both buyers and transport shippers.” If the item is detained, he may lose the most. So he will try his best to make the goods approach you easily,” she adds.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC ), China has between 40,000 and 100,000 pharmaceutical companies.
One of the largest chemistry sectors in Asia and one of the most important medicinal industries has long been present in China. And we’ve seen business expansion in other parts of the region, according to Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC’s then-regional representative, in late 2023.
Given the sheer scale and the fact that there are many ways to maneuver goods, the problem is important given that both sectors are regulated. Parcel blog, air transport and delivery pots are all moving worldwide in great volumes,” he said.
According to Mr. Douglas, synthetic drugs are stifling the flow of conventional drugs. Chemical medicines, aside from China, provide opportunities for both established criminal organizations and startups who can purchase directly from producers located a short distance.
” Synthetics of fentanyl have many advantages over conventional drugs- compact, simply shippable, pre-existing demand, replaceable. They’re beautiful to criminals. “
That was confirmed in my meetings with sales representatives for Chinese medical companies.
” First of all, our presentation is entirely secret, no one knows what it is until you open it, and next, we will alter the name of the package and will not disclose any name about the product,” says Sara.
We will receive the logistics order number when the package is sent; we can monitor the state of the package at any time; and any anomalies can be identified and quickly discovered,” she continues.
” It is criminal entrepreneurship, but in a legitimate framework which is really unique,” says Dr Louise Shelly the director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center ( TraCCC ) at George Mason University, and author of Dark Commerce.
There is nothing like this in the world, and I have never seen such a corporate element or professionalism. Criminal behavior was a form of social mobility. “
The drug trade is seen by the salespeople contacted by the BBC as just another component of e-commerce. One woman described herself as a “middleman” when challenged about selling drugs that harm lives. “
She says,” Someone needs it, someone makes it, and I’m just a middleman who lets customers know that I have it and what they do with it, I do n’t care,” and that’s because” someone needs it, some makes it, and I’m just a middleman.” I then realized that all I need to do is make money. I do n’t know and do n’t care. Everyone has their own needs. “
The woman boasts of clients ranging from Croatia to Canada. She provided images of recent drug shipments that had labels that indicated a UK address.
She says in a message with a teary emoji that” I did n’t know at first until I went online and translated the product into Chinese.”
Another seller says:” This industry is easy, and you can get higher wages, which attracts a large number of young people”. Natalie [not her real name], focuses on fentanyl.
” We buy from over 10 different labs and have a large selection. I have a highly successful delivery success rate to the UK thanks to a skilled shipping agent who has packaged goods. “
In addition, another supplier made the claim that they could smuggle drugs into the UK through hidden in dog food containers. ” You do n’t need to worry about the packaging. We guarantee you safe delivery. “
We ship in significant quantities all over the world every day. Give confidence to our skilled staff. We guarantee 100 % safe transportation. “
In 2019, the Chinese government banned all forms of fentanyl and its analogues. China and the US launched a joint operation to stop the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in January 2024.
According to Mr. Douglas from the UNODC,” as long as market demand remains high in some parts of the world then that demand will be met in some ways or another.”