Great to see China cooperating. -China sentences fentanyl trafficker to death, others up to life in prison after US tip in drug case A court in northern China sentenced one fentanyl trafficker to death and eight others for various jail sentences on Thursday after a drug bust that was the first collaboration between law enforcement officials in China and the U.S. working to crack down globally on synthetic opioids. The nine were sentenced after pleading guilty to manufacturing and trafficking, charges stemming from when Chinese police busted the drug ring based in the northern Chinese city of Xingtai. The drug ring shipped synthetic drugs illicitly to the U.S. and other countries from a gritty clandestine laboratory. Chinese officials worked off a 2017 tip from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about an online drug vendor who went by the name Diana, and wound up arresting more than 20 suspects and seizing 26.2 pounds of fentanyl and 42.1 pounds of other drugs. Austin Moore, an attaché to China for the DHS, told the Associated Press the Xingtai case was "an important step" showing that Chinese and U.S. investigators are able to collaborate across international borders. Of those in court on Thursday, 41-year-old Liu Yong was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, while Jiang Juhua and Wang Fengxi were sentenced to life in prison. Six other members of the operation received lesser sentences, ranging from six months to 10 years. Death sentences in China are almost always commuted to life in prison after the reprieve. Liu and Jiang were accused of manufacturing and trafficking illicit drugs. The others were accused of trafficking. Chinese officials have said the Xingtai case was one of three fentanyl-trafficking networks they are pursuing based on U.S. intelligence but declined to discuss the details of the other cases, which are ongoing. Moore said Chinese police identified more than 50 U.S. residents who tried to buy fentanyl from the Xingtai organization. Those leads prompted more than 25 domestic investigations and have already resulted in three major criminal arrests and indictments in New York and Oregon, he said. https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-fentanyl-trafficking-drug-case-us-tip-death-sentence