Communist China isn’t just enabling America’s fentanyl crisis—it’s engineering it.
That’s the blunt warning from FBI Director Kash Patel, who says the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is waging a long-term campaign to weaken the United States by flooding the nation with deadly synthetic opioids. In a June 6 interview with Joe Rogan, Patel laid out the shocking extent of China’s influence behind the epidemic that killed over 48,000 Americans in 2024 alone.
Patel called it a “directed approach” from the CCP and a form of chemical warfare. “They’re not making a ton of money,” he said. “In my opinion, the CCP has used it as a directed approach because we are their adversary. And their long-term game is, ‘How do I kneecap the United States of America?’”
The strategy, Patel says, is designed to “take out generations of young men and women”—the very people who would serve the country as police officers, soldiers, and teachers. “That’s what they are doing when you wipe out tens of thousands of Americans a year,” he added.
Former President Donald Trump took action earlier this year, imposing a 20% tariff on Chinese imports over the regime’s involvement in the fentanyl trade. And under his leadership, the U.S. is launching global counteroffensives to shut down trafficking networks.
Patel says China has lied to the world about halting fentanyl precursor sales. The CCP publicly claimed to restrict one specific precursor chemical, but “the problem is, there are 14 others you can use to make fentanyl—and they’re still shipping all of those,” he said.
When the U.S. cracked down on shipments headed for Mexico, Chinese traffickers adapted. Now, they’re routing precursor chemicals through Canada and India. Patel confirmed the FBI is working directly with the Indian government to shut down the new supply chains.
“My FBI is over there working with the heads of their government, law enforcement authorities to say, ‘We’re going to find these companies that buy it, and we’re going to shut them down. We’re going to sanction them. We’re going to arrest them where we can,’” he said.
Earlier this year, Indian firms Raxuter Chemicals and Athos Chemicals were hit with criminal conspiracy charges for smuggling fentanyl ingredients into the U.S. and Mexico. In a major win for U.S. authorities, one of the company’s top executives, Bhavesh Lathiya, was arrested in New York and indicted.
Canada is also becoming a hub for fentanyl production. The DEA’s latest report warns about “super laboratories” forming just north of the border, poised to expand and backfill supply gaps if Mexico-based labs are shut down.
Meanwhile, traffickers are producing fake pills that look like candy and gummy bears to target children and teens. “They’re making these things look like harmless sweets,” Patel said. “It’s absolutely sick.”
In May, the DEA made the largest fentanyl bust in agency history—arresting 16 people and seizing over 400 kilograms of the drug in five states. That same month, three Chinese nationals and a China-based firm were charged with importing pill presses used to manufacture “lethal fake pills.”
Patel promised that the Trump administration isn’t backing down. “I promised the president, the American people, we will not have kids dying of fentanyl overdoses in our streets,” he said. “Just give me a little bit more time.”
The war on fentanyl is no longer just a domestic fight. It’s a global battle against America’s greatest adversary—and China is playing for keeps. But this time, under Trump’s leadership, so is the United States.