Two Chinese nationals were indicted on federal drug charges after allegedly spending nearly a year developing an industrial-scale methamphetamine production factory capable of producing 400 kilograms of the drug daily, federal prosecutors in New York announced.
Wenfeng Cui, 41, also known as “Vincen,” and Fan Pang, 26, also known as “Jerry,” were arrested in New York City on Feb. 2, 2026, after a meeting in which they allegedly provided detailed instructions for methamphetamine synthesis and demonstrated the operation of industrial machinery they had engineered for mass drug production, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The pair face charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to import methamphetamine precursor chemicals with intent to manufacture narcotics, and importation of methamphetamine precursor chemicals. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said the case reflects a disturbing level of ambition in illicit drug manufacturing.
“Their goal was terrifying in its ambition,” Clayton said. “The potential harm of this scale of methamphetamine on our streets should give all New Yorkers and all Americans pause.”
According to the indictment, Drug Enforcement Administration confidential sources posing as narcotics traffickers communicated regularly with Cui and Pang over approximately eight months. During meetings in June 2025, Cui said prototype machinery was already operational and that finished units could be delivered within 30 days. Pang said a completed machine could produce as much as 800 kilograms of methamphetamine per production cycle.
Cui also provided extensive technical documentation, prosecutors said, including a nearly 5,000-word instruction manual detailing chemical proportions, pressure levels and temperature controls; blueprints and schematics; an equipment spreadsheet listing dozens of components such as stainless steel reactors, centrifuges and hydrogenation systems; and laboratory renderings.
In August 2025, Cui allegedly directed a shipment of methamphetamine precursor chemicals to New York. After fabrication was completed in December 2025, the defendants shipped the equipment — weighing more than 21,120 kilograms and measuring nearly 200 cubic meters — in multiple shipping containers from Shanghai to a European port. Law enforcement authorities in Europe subsequently seized the containers.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Cindy Marx said the case underscores the increasing role of technical sophistication in the synthetic drug trade.
“The cartels are adapting, and so are we,” Marx said.
Both defendants, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield.
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