Two Chinese nationals, Lisa Xing, 36, and Zhanwen Song, 38, have been arrested in China and charged in a US federal indictment over an alleged scheme to smuggle synthetic drugs into American prisons using drug-soaked paper. Prosecutors allege the pair supplied synthetic opioids, cannabinoids and other substances from China to two US-based co-defendants, who dissolved the drugs in liquid, soaked sheets of paper in the mixture, and mailed them to inmates in federal and state facilities across the country. The case, brought in the Eastern District of Texas, was highlighted by FBI Director Kash Patel as an example of ongoing efforts to disrupt cross-border drug trafficking networks.

The two US-based distributors, Adell Willis of Texas and Judy Ly of Michigan, were indicted separately in May on related conspiracy and money laundering charges. As part of the same investigation, China's Ministry of Public Security arrested Xing, Song and 19 further alleged co-conspirators, seized 475 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids and closed four manufacturing sites, with the operation coordinated through a joint FBI-Chinese counternarcotics working group set up earlier this year. If convicted, each defendant faces a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life.