A Chinese organization suspected of illegally exporting fentanyl precursor chemicals also was linked to a large-scale cryptocurrency fraud through a base in Japan, according to an investigation by Nikkei published Sunday.
The criminal group allegedly used Japanese internet domains to defraud crypto users and moved funds through accounts tied to entities under U.S. sanctions, the report said, in what Nikkei described as evidence of a broader money-laundering operation.
At the center is Hubei Amarvel Biotech, a Wuhan-based chemical manufacturer. Two of its executives were convicted in a Manhattan federal court in February 2025 of conspiring to import fentanyl precursors into the U.S.
Amarvel's Japanese front, a Nagoya company called Firsky, served as an operational hub where a figure Nikkei previously identified as Chinese national Xia Fengzhi, the "boss in Japan," directed logistics and money management. Firsky was liquidated in July 2024, and Xia's whereabouts are unknown.
Using wallet addresses disclosed in U.S. court evidence, Nikkei built an analytical program to map how Amarvel moved funds. It focused on activity after September 2022, when Firsky relocated to Nagoya, and flagged suspicious transactions as early as that October.
