Chinese national charged in Wisconsin with drug trafficking

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — A Chinese national was taken into custody in Los Angeles on federal drug trafficking charges after arriving on a flight from China March 4, announced U.S. Attorney James L. Santelle of the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Haijun Tian, a resident of the People’s Republic of China, was arrested following a multi-year investigation by the following agencies:  U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Based on this investigation, federal law enforcement identified Tian as a multi-ton synthetic drug manufacturer operating from China.

On Dec. 19, 2014, a federal grand jury returned a three-count sealed indictment charging Tian with importing a controlled substance and manufacturing a controlled substance knowing it would be unlawfully imported into the United States from China. This indictment was unsealed following Tian’s arrest.

Specifically, the indictment alleges that in March 2014 and July 2014, Tian knowingly imported AB-Fubinaca, a Schedule I controlled substance, from China into the United States. The indictment further alleges that between February 2013 and July 2014, Tian manufactured and distributed AB-Fubinaca knowing that it would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

The multi-year investigation resulting in Tian’s arrest, named Operation PoisynControl, was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program. The OCDETF Program was established in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. The OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the U.S. Attorney General’s drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, money laundering organizations, and related criminal enterprises.

Under the direction of the Deputy Attorney General, following are the aims of the OCDETF strategy:

• to focus federal drug resources on reducing the flow of illicit drugs and drug proceeds by identifying and targeting major trafficking organizations,
• eliminating the financial infrastructure of drug organizations by emphasizing financial investigations and asset forfeiture,
• redirecting federal drug enforcement resources to align them with existing and emerging drug threats, and
• conducting expanded, nationwide investigations against all the related parts of the targeted organizations.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chmelar and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Campbell, Eastern District of Wisconsin.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.