Flakka, the synthetic drug that has wreaked havoc on the streets of South Florida, has not gone away. It can now be found in Georgia, New Hampshire, Michigan and Australia, And mayhem in Florida continues: on Wednesday, a Palm Beach man high on the drug was arrested for destroying a set of doors at a hospital.
As I previously reported, flakka, or alpha-PVP, comes from converted pharmaceutical labs and distributors in China.
On Thursday, the Treasury Department froze the assets of the head of one such supplier.
Bo Peng, also known as Kevin Peng, is accused of distributing worldwide 2.2 tons of bath salts (of which flakka is a member) as well as synthetic marijuana, through a company variously called Kaikai Technology Co., Ltd., Nanjing Kaikai Polyurethane Co. Ltd., and Eastnine International Trading Co. Peng was indicted on drug trafficking charges in May, according to the Treasury's release.
In its announcement, Treasury released the following chart showing how Peng and his operation worked (click through for a direct link to a larger version).
"Customers worldwide use well-known international money service businesses, Bitcoins, or bank wire transfers to pay for the synthetic drugs sold by Bo Peng and Kaikai," Treasury said in its statement.
Kaikai's website is actually still active. You can try to Skype Peng right now if you wish:
While Treasury called Peng's operation "significant," he is just one of what the New York Times says are likely hundreds of peddlers operating in China. So your flakka supply likely remains secure.
“There’s absolutely no limit in terms of how far they go to import drugs," Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, commander of the New South Wales Organized Crime Squad in Australia, told the Times' Dan Levin this summer.
"They’re ingenious.”
Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.