NJ Presses WeChat to Address Role in Fentanyl Trafficking and Money Laundering

New Jersey joins five other states in pressing the Chinese-owned app for transparency amid rising concerns over illicit drug financing networks.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin has joined a bipartisan coalition of six state attorneys general demanding that WeChat, a Chinese-owned messaging and payment app, disclose what steps it is taking to prevent its platform from being used for fentanyl trafficking and illegal money laundering in the United States.

The letter, addressed to WeChat’s parent company Tencent, outlines growing concerns that the app’s encrypted messaging and financial services have enabled criminal enterprises to coordinate fentanyl sales and conceal illicit proceeds. The attorneys general are requesting detailed responses within 30 days.

WeChat has over 1 billion users globally and more than 19 million users in the U.S., including in New Jersey. According to ongoing investigations, the app has been repeatedly exploited by drug traffickers and money launderers who move millions of dollars in cash through complex financial pathways—often transferring funds from the United States to China and then to fentanyl production hubs in Mexico.

“A growing body of well-documented evidence shows that WeChat is a central conduit for transnational money laundering operations, particularly those linked to the fentanyl trade. These operations have exacerbated a crisis that is devastating American communities, including in the undersigned states, by enabling drug traffickers to launder drug proceeds with minimal detection,” the attorneys general wrote.

Several recent law enforcement cases have cited WeChat’s use in high-level drug and money laundering operations, including:

• The 2021 conviction of Xizhi Li, who used WeChat to move bulk cash for a transnational criminal ring.

• Operation Chem Capture (2023), in which eight companies and twelve individuals were indicted for distributing chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl using platforms including WeChat.

• The April 2025 arrest of three individuals in South Carolina for laundering drug money via WeChat on behalf of an international network.

In New Jersey, money laundering in connection with drug trafficking is a criminal offense, and the state has increasingly faced the downstream impacts of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has fueled overdose deaths and strained public health systems nationwide.

“We will use every available resource to track down and bring to justice the criminal cartels and ringleaders who seek to bring fentanyl into our state. As part of these ongoing efforts, we’re making crystal clear today that we and our fellow attorneys general will hold accountable tech companies that are complicit in fentanyl trafficking and money laundering,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Fentanyl has taken too many lives, and we will continue to do everything in our power to pursue ringleaders and cartels and protect our residents.”

Joining AG Platkin in signing the letter were Attorneys General Jeff Jackson (North Carolina), Alan Wilson (South Carolina), Phil Weiser (Colorado), Lynn Fitch (Mississippi), and John Formella (New Hampshire). The coalition seeks not only to expose gaps in corporate oversight but to push for concrete actions from WeChat to prevent future exploitation of the platform.

The attorneys general emphasized that companies operating globally must take responsibility for preventing the use of their services in illegal and dangerous activities that impact U.S. communities.