I hadn't heard that theory, but that sounds totally consistent with everything that I know. So presumably it was just somebody in that family who pissed off the wrong Party member. My understanding is that there are ~15-20 families that pretty much run everything, but that top echelon is really unstable, and one of them will get purged/fucked by everyone in the circle periodically.
That was the impression I got from one of my buddies. He works at a 99% legit chemical company, and the tone and lexicon of his answer when I asked about K analogues made me think that. His English is as almost literally as good as mine (he's been studying since he was 5, and he does lots of business with americans) so I'm inclined to trust my gut on such cues with him. (Try that with some of my other friends, and a 50 gallon drum of benzene shows up in Oklahoma or something! It's legit with Chris though.)
Another possibility, since Chris only deals in human APIs is that it used to be legal for animal use. I mean, pandas seem seem pretty damn chill...