Chinese nationals arrested in China as Homeland Security Task Force works to stop drugs imported through the Eastern District of Texas destined for U.S. prisons

PLANO, Texas – Two Chinese nationals have been indicted and charged with federal drug trafficking violations as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

 

Lisa Xing, 36, and Zhanwen Song, 38, Chinese citizens, were charged in a six-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas, charging them with drug trafficking and money laundering violations.

 

In May, Adell Willis, 43, of Lewisville, and Judy Ly, 30, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, were indicted in the same conspiracy.  All four defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; conspiracy to possess contraband in prison; conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances knowing it would be unlawfully imported into the United States; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  Willis was also charged with possession of synthetic drugs with intent to distribute.

 

“The indictment alleges that a China‑based supplier and a domestic distributor worked together to bring deadly synthetic drugs into the United States for distribution across the country,” said U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.  “We will continue working with our Homeland Security Task Force partners to pursue and hold accountable those who traffic dangerous drugs into our country.”

 

“The Homeland Security Task Force was established by President Trump’s executive order to protect Americans from illegal drug activity infesting our communities,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “This FBI and our partners will stop at nothing to identify, find, and arrest these criminals who bring drugs to our streets. These two Chinese nationals allegedly trafficked dangerous, synthetic drugs from China into the United States and smuggled them into our prison systems for illicit gain. This HSTF investigation is yet another example, among thousands, of our task forces working throughout the country, every day, to make it safer for everyone. Thank you to FBI Dallas and our great law enforcement partners across the interagency who worked this investigation with us.”

 

“These indictments send a clear message to those who seek to exploit the international mail system to fuel the illicit drug trade in the United States: distance and international borders will not shield you from American law enforcement. These defendants are alleged to have trafficked precursor chemicals from China into the United States, providing essential materials used in the production of fentanyl,” said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Joseph B. Tucker. “Working alongside our Homeland Security Task Force partners and the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Texas, we will continue to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the supply networks that enable drug trafficking organizations, hold those responsible accountable, and save American lives.”

 

The indictment alleges that beginning in March 2023, the defendants conspired to possess synthetic opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic stimulants, and other controlled analogues, in correctional institutions.  It is alleged in the indictment that Willis purchased synthetic drugs from Xing and Song in China and had them shipped to his residence in the Eastern District of Texas and Ly’s residence in Michigan.  It is also alleged that once Willis and Ly received the synthetic drugs, they would convert the drugs to a liquid before soaking sheets of paper in the drug mixture.  Once the sheets of paper were saturated, they were then delivered to inmates at various federal and state correctional institutions across the country.

 

China’s Ministry of Public Security arrested Xing, Song, and 19 co-conspirators, seized 475 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids, and shutdown four illicit manufacturing sites in China. The FBI-MPS counternarcotics working group, established in January 2026, facilitated the collaborative efforts to dismantle this transnational criminal network. These results represent a major milestone in U.S.–China counternarcotics cooperation and underscore the effectiveness of sustained, structured coordination between both countries in addressing the international illicit chemical supply chain.

 

If convicted, the defendants each face a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison.

 

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.  HSTF Dallas comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Field Office; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations – Dallas (ICE-HSI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Dallas Field Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Dallas Field Division; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CD; United States Postal Service, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS); United States Secret Service (USSS); Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DSS); TEXOMA HIDTA; and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Eastern District of Texas with the prosecution being led by Eastern District of Texas Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucas Machicek and Dustin Farahnak.

 

A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.