Ask a Fentanyl Saleswoman

"What happens if customs seizes it? Will I get in trouble?"

The Wuhan headquarters of Yuancheng, which sells more fentanyl precursors than any company in the world

Almost all of the world’s illicit fentanyl comes from China. For Fentanyl, Inc. I wanted to learn about this trade, which is killing more people than any drug in American history, so in 2017 I began reaching out to Chinese dealers and manufacturers. It was easy — many posted their contact information on their websites. I focused on those selling fentanyl precursors, the most critical ingredients needed to make fentanyl. The Mexican cartels purchase them in large quantities to make finished fentanyl (a very easy process), which they then traffic into the U.S.

The two most common fentanyl precursors, NPP and 4-ANPP, were banned in the U.S., but remained legal in China. I discovered that a single chemical company based in Wuhan sold more of them than anyone else in the world, called Yuancheng. I eventually spent more than a year investigating them, and my expose made international news.

But kicking it all off was the below Skype messenger conversation I had with a saleswoman I’ll call Mindy, who worked in a Yuancheng branch office. I pretended to be an interested buyer at first, before revealing my identity. Our conversation helped me understand not only how Yuancheng operated, but how its salespeople could morally justify their work.

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The sales floor at Yuancheng

October 3, 2017

Mindy: Hi. Sorry I didn’t go online last night. How many NPP do you need?

Me: Are you selling both NPP and 4-ANPP?

Yes. NPP is 99.4%. Yellowish crystal. Here is the price: 1000 g: 520 USD. 4-ANPP is 99.46%, light yellow powder. 1000 g: 2570 USD. How many do you need?

You work in the sales department for Yuancheng in Wuhan?

Yes. But last year, I came to [a branch office] to work. We have many branch offices in China.