FBI Director Kash Patel states that illicit fentanyl enters the U.S. from Canada, with China, Russia, and Iran collaborating with cartels to smuggle it through Vancouver.

Patel told Fox News that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Russia, and Iran are responsible for the fentanyl influx into the United States. He stated these hostile regimes collaborate with criminal organizations to smuggle fentanyl across the Canada-U.S. border after President Trump sealed the southern border with Mexico.

"They're sailing around to Vancouver and coming in by air," Patel said May 18, noting that the Canadian government needs to do more. "The facts speak for themselves."

Fentanyl, a cheap and potent synthetic opioid prescribed for severe pain, fuels America's opioid crisis due to its ease of smuggling. It contaminates various drugs and counterfeit pills, leading to unintentional and sometimes fatal ingestion by users of cocaine or methamphetamine.

Global Affairs Canada earlier remarked that China views the opioid epidemic as a "North American problem."

Since 2015, China has been the "largest source country" for illegal fentanyl and chemical precursors exported to Canada, reads a June 17 memo Fentanyl. It later "shifted from manufacturing and exporting finished products to exporting fentanyl precursors," wrote analysts.

U.S. Congress confirmed precursors went from China to Mexico, whose cartels then "smuggle and distribute" throughout North America, on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports that they use a sophisticated network of couriers, tunnels, and stash houses to traffic major illicit drugs into the U.S. via air, sea, and land.

"In addition to the synthetic drug threat from Mexico, elevated synthetic drug production in Canada — particularly from sophisticated fentanyl 'super laboratories' such as the type seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in October 2024 — presents a growing concern for the United States," the report says.

The Falkland, B.C. bust led to the confiscation of 54 kilograms of fentanyl, accounting for over 95 million doses slated for international markets.

Currently, 235 criminal groups are involved, with 35 exporting domestically produced fentanyl and methamphetamine, according to a 2024 CISC report.

The Bureau reported that fentanyl exports are primarily destined for the U.S. and Australia.

"The fentanyl coming through Canada is massive. And people are getting killed and families are being destroyed," Trump told reporters January 21. He then declared a state of emergency on his country's northern border the following month.

A 2025 DEA report learned of over 84,000 U.S. overdose deaths between October 2023 and October 2024. It is not known how many are the result of Canadian fentanyl.

President Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods and energy in March, demanding greater border security against illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Despite drugs flowing both ways, the vast majority of drugs smuggled into the U.S., including 21,000 kg of fentanyl in 2024, originate from the southwestern border with Mexico, according to data on drugs flowing between Canada and the United States.

The Prime Minister's Office reported in January that Canada accounts for less than 0.2% of fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. authorities only seized 43 kg of fentanyl coming from Canada last year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In 2025 so far, 26 kg of fentanyl.

China analysts contend these drug seizures don't reflect Beijing-linked fentanyl precursor operations within Canada.

"It doesn't have to be that border services in the U.S. [bust] a big load of finished fentanyl," investigative journalist Sam Cooper told the Epoch Times. 

"What is key here is that the precursors are coming into Canada and being shipped elsewhere, and the money laundering is being directed from Canada."

A recent RCMP investigation into Chinese drug trafficking in Vancouver produced ties to a CCP-linked entity named in the Foreign Interference Commission (FIC), leading to a significant fentanyl bust.

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As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to implement mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, Alexandra Lavoie is committed to uncovering the truth about Canada's readiness and the realities of illegal crossings. To support this investigation, we seek your assistance to cover travel, equipment, and production expenses. Your contribution will enable us to deliver the in-depth reporting that we just can't rely on the mainstream media for. Please donate today to empower our independent journalism.

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