A Miami man pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug-trafficking charges after federal authorities said he imported drugs often referred to as “bath salts” or “flakka” from China into the U.S. to be distributed in South Florida.
Terrell Jermaine Williams, 40, conspired with a China-based drug distributor to import the controlled substances into Miami for distribution, beginning in or around 2022 and continuing through 2025, according to court documents.
“This defendant worked with a supplier overseas to bring a dangerous synthetic drug into South Florida and profit from its distribution,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Synthetic cathinones —often referred to on the street as ‘bath salts’ or ‘flakka’ — are powerful and unpredictable stimulants that pose a serious threat to public safety. Our office will continue working with the Homeland Security Task Force and our federal, local, and international partners to stop these trafficking pipelines and prevent dangerous narcotics from reaching our communities.”
The “bath salts” or “flakka” are classified as a Schedule I drug, which means that they have no currently accepted medical use and have a high potential to be abused. Other drugs in this category include heroin, marijuana, and LSD.
The documents also provide WhatsApp messages between Williams and the Chinese distributor. In one message, dated Nov. 3, 2023, the distributor encouraged Williams to stock up on the substance before it was banned so he could charge higher prices when it became unavailable to others.
Another conversation, the documents stated, was in April 2024, where the distributor warned Williams that because it is an election year, authorities tend to check more frequently for firearms and drugs from China than before.
The Department of Justice said that the information they found in this investigation was shared with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Guangzhou in China. Chinese law enforcement and the department initiated their own investigation parallel to this one. Other departments assisting in the investigation of the trafficking of drugs from China to Miami are U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, and the City of Miami Police Department.
