CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Chinese national who federal authorities say brought fentanyl and other drugs to the U.S. -- and whose opioids are tied to a series of overdoses deaths in Northeast Ohio -- faces drug charges after his arrest in Massachusetts.

Bin Wang, 42, is accused of distributing opioids and drugs shipped from China to dealers and users in the U.S., according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says Wang worked with a man named "Gordon Jin" who shipped drugs to people who ordered them from a series of Chinese websites.

Agents found several websites that sold pounds of fentanyl and shipped the drugs to the United States. One of the websites sold drugs that led to two overdose deaths in Summit County in 2015, the release states.

Wang is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Massachusetts following his arrest Friday.

An affidavit filed for his arrest says he was arrested after he bought a round-trip ticket to Toronto Friday morning, but his return flight was scheduled for a short time after his departing flight landed. This led agents to believe he was trying to flee, according to the affidavit.

He is next set to appear in court in Boston later this week and is expected to be prosecuted in Cleveland.

Jin also faces charges in the United States but is not in custody.

The 56-page affidavit sworn by DEA agent Matthew Fitzpatrick says Wang operated companies from a warehouse in Woburn, a Boston suburb.

Undercover agents started ordering drugs from Jin in November, and wired him money. The drugs were shipped to Wang, who mailed the drugs to people who ordered them in the United States, the affidavit states.

Fitzpatrick detailed a series of emails that agents exchanged with Jin, as well as other emails intercepted when investigators obtained a warrant to monitor Jin's emails earlier this year, according to the affidavit.

Jin's and Wang's case is believed to be the first time local federal prosecutors have charged wholesale opioid suppliers in China. The case comes as some local dealers have turned to Chinese sellers to obtain fentanyl to either mix with heroin or sell outright.

The case also comes as Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio remains on pace to see a record number of opioid overdoses in 2017.

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