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Press Release

Department of State Offers Reward for Information to Bring Chinese Fentanyl Trafficker to Justice

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of North Dakota

The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of People’s Republic of China (PRC) national Jian Zhang, a key leader of the transnational criminal Zhang Drug Trafficking Organization. This reward is also offered for information leading to his location.

Between 2013 and 2016, with Zhang acting as principal leader and organizer, Zhang’s criminal organization imported and distributed controlled substances and their analogues into the United States that led to the overdose deaths of four Americans in North Dakota, Oregon, North Carolina, and New Jersey and serious bodily injuries to five other Americans.

Zhang was charged in North Dakota in September 2017 along with several other Canadian nationals. A superseding indictment was returned in January 2018 adding additional PRC nationals. Several of the U.S. nationals have been convicted and sentenced to penalties ranging from 20 years to life. This investigation led to charges which include drug trafficking, trafficking of illicit drugs which led to death and/or serious bodily injury of Americans, violations of the Continuing Criminal Enterprise statute, and international money laundering.

This reward is offered under the Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP). More than 75 transnational criminals and major narcotics traffickers have been brought to justice under the TOCRP and the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) since 1986. The Department has paid more than $135 million in rewards to-date.

The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs manages the TOCRP in close coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and other U.S. government agencies.

For more information on the individual listed above and the TOCRP and NRP, please see Department of State INL Anticrime Rewards Program.

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WANTED: ZHANG JIAN

REWARD OF UP TO $5 MILLION

Zhang Jian is a key leader of transnational criminal organization, the Zhang Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO). Zhang was the principal leader and organizer of this transnational criminal conspiracy which sold controlled substances and controlled substance analogues throughout the United States and Canada.

Zhang was charged in North Dakota in September 2017 along with several other Canadian nationals. A superseding indictment was returned in January 2018 adding additional PRC nationals. Several of the U.S. nationals have been convicted and sentenced to penalties ranging from 20 years to life. This investigation led to charges which include drug trafficking, trafficking of illicit drugs which led to death and/or serious bodily injury of Americans, violations of the Continuing Criminal Enterprise statute, and international money laundering.

The U.S. Department of State is offering a REWARD OF UP TO $5 MILLION for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Zhang Jian, a/k/a "Hong Kong Zaron." The reward is also offered for information leading to the location of Zhang as the key leader of a transnational organized crime group.

If you have information, please contact the DEA by calling or texting +1-504-534-5134 via telephone/text/WhatsApp, or emailing ZhangJianTips@dea.gov. If you are located outside

of the United States, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If in the United States, please contact the local Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in your city.

ALL IDENTITIES ARE KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.

Government officials and employees are not eligible for rewards

Contact

Terry W. Van Horn 701-297-7458 terry.vanhorn@usdoj.gov

Updated August 31, 2021