Two Chinese nationals have been indicted in New York City for allegedly developing and marketing an industrial-scale facility for the mass production of methamphetamine, according to federal prosecutors.
Cui Wenfeng, 41, also known as “Vincen,” and Pang Fan, 26, also known as “Jerry,” were charged in an indictment unsealed on April 27, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The two were arrested in New York City on Feb. 2.
The defendants, both engineers, “designed, built and marketed” the facility capable of producing about 400 kilograms (kg) of methamphetamine per day, which was to be shipped from China, according to the indictment.
Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, alleged that the pair had developed the facility with chemists and other engineers, according to a statement.
“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.”
From May 2025 to February this year, Cui and Pang repeatedly spoke to or met with several individuals they thought were narcotics traffickers but were actually U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential sources, in order to broker agreements, according to the indictment.
For instance, during a meeting at a restaurant in Manhattan in June 2025, Cui said that “other scientists at the [Chinese state-run] Chinese Academy of Sciences were also working on the technology” behind the facility, according to the indictment. Pan allegedly noted that “those scientists did not know what [the technology] would be working for.”
At the same meeting, Cui said that a prototype of the facility was working and that a “completed machine” could be ready in about a month, which could produce “as much as 800 kilograms of methamphetamine per production cycle.”
Cui and Pang also allegedly offered to ship about 40 kg of methylamine hydrochloride, a chemical used in the production of methamphetamine, from China to New York City in exchange for $4,000 in cash, according to the indictment.
At another Manhattan restaurant on a different date in June 2025, Cui and Pang stated that a “smaller version” of their facility would cost about $115,000, according to the indictment.
The pair also said during the meeting that their facility would use a different precursor chemical to produce methamphetamine, replacing a commonly used chemical that had been banned in China. According to the indictment, Cui noted that “his connections in China would permit him to stay in business even if other chemicals were banned in the future.”
In August 2025, Cui said he could provide training in the “assembly, installation, and operation” of the facility once it was available, and offered “ongoing parts and technical support on site in Central America,” according to prosecutors.
In the same month, Cui shipped another precursor chemical for making methamphetamine from Shanghai to New York City, in a package that was fraudulently labeled as containing “acrylic pigment,” prosecutors said.
Cui and Pang met with DEA confidential sources in Tokyo in September 2025. According to the indictment, the defendants expressed hope of securing a “long-term business relationship supplying precursor chemicals” for use with their facility.
In December 2025, Cui and Pang allegedly shipped their “full-scale” facility, weighing more than 21,120 kg, from Shanghai to a European port, prosecutors said. Several shipping containers holding the facility were subsequently seized by law enforcement officials in February.
Another meeting took place in New York City in February, when Cui and Pang agreed to travel to Europe to begin testing the facility and Cui agreed to provide “metric-ton quantities of precursor chemicals” for use with the facility in the future, prosecutors said.
Pictures and schematics of the defendants’ facility were also included in the indictment. The facility included stainless steel reactors, condensers, storage tanks, valves, explosion-proof pumps, refrigeration systems, cylinders, centrifuges, and compressors.
Use of the facility came with an instruction manual, including instructions such as pressure levels, temperature controls, and chemical proportions, according to prosecutors.
“This indictment underscores the evolving threat posed by the synthetic drug market, in particular the increase we are seeing in methamphetamine,” Cindy Marx, DEA special agent in charge of the Special Operations Division, said in a statement.
“The level of technical expertise, industrial-scale machinery, and international reach revealed in this case is a stark reminder that today’s illicit drug trade is driven by innovation and relentless adaptation.”
Cui and Pang are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to import methamphetamine precursor chemical with intent to manufacture narcotics, and one count of importation of methamphetamine precursor chemical.
The Epoch Times contacted Cui’s lawyer for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time. Pang’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.
