CCP, Russia, Iran Collaborating With Cartels to Smuggle Fentanyl Into US Through Canada: FBI Director
FBI Director Kash Patel says the flow of fentanyl into the United States is coming from his country's northern neighbour. He says China, Russia, and Iran are partnering with cartels to smuggle the drug into the United States via Vancouver.
Patel told Fox News that the Chinese Communist Party and the regimes in Russia and Iran are responsible for the influx of fentanyl pouring into his country. He said hostile regimes like Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow are collaborating with criminal organizations to smuggle fentanyl across the Canada-U.S. border following President Donald Trump's sealing of America's southern border with Mexico.
'They're sailing around to Vancouver and coming in by air,' Patel said during an
'You know who has to step in? It's Canada, because they're making it up there and shipping it down here,' he said.
'I don't care about getting into this debate of making someone the 51st state or not, but they are our partner in the north. And say what you want about Mexico, but they helped us seal the southern border. The facts speak for themselves.'
With Vancouver being identified by the FBI as a problem area, B.C. Conservative MLA and public safety critic Elenore Sturko is calling on Premier David Eby's NDP government to implement a provincial fentanyl strategy, appoint a bipartisan provincial drug task force on drug trafficking, and launch two public inquiries.
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'The FBI has issued a warning to Canada to prepare in the event that we see an increase in the production of fentanyl and other deadly drugs as a result of American enforcement on their southern border with Mexico,' she said in a
A 2024
There are 235 criminal organizations engaged in fentanyl-related activities, with 35 of these groups participating in the export of domestically manufactured drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine, according to the report.
Sturko said immediate action should be taken by the B.C. government to deal with the fentanyl issue.
'It's never been more important for us to take action on illicit drug production in British Columbia,' she said.
Drug Concerns
The comments from Patel and Sturko come just days after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released its 2025
The law enforcement agency says Mexican cartels are capitalizing on the relative ease of the production of synthetic drugs compared with traditional plant-based drug production to generate immense revenues, primarily sourcing the necessary precursor chemicals from China and India. They maintain a 'complex and robust' network—couriers, border tunnels, and stash houses—to smuggle all of the major illicit drugs into the United States via air and maritime cargo as well as overland traffic, the DEA said.
Canada was named in the DEA report as a destination point for shipments of precursor chemicals as well as a source of 'growing concern' due to 'elevated synthetic drug production' occurring there, particularly from sophisticated fentanyl
The production of fentanyl and its illicit smuggling across borders by Canadian criminal organizations has been a point of contention between the United States and Canada for several months.
Trump levied 25 percent
White House senior adviser Peter Navarro has
Canada has
The Prime Minister's Office
According to the DEA's 2025
Precursor Chemicals
But China analysts say the statistics on northern border drug seizures do not account for the Beijing-linked fentanyl precursor operations that are based in Canada.
'It doesn't have to be that border services at the U.S. [bust] a big load of finished fentanyl,' author and investigative journalist Sam Cooper
Once these precursor chemicals are brought into the country, they predominantly find their way to superlabs located across Canada, especially in the Western provinces. 'Superlabs' is the term used by the RCMP to describe the clandestine synthetic drug production facilities, which are 'large-scale, highly organized labs generally tied to organized crime where drugs are produced for the purpose of wholesale trafficking.'
Federal investigators in British Columbia said they dismantled the 'largest, most sophisticated' drug-production lab in Canadian history last fall, dealing what they described as a 'decisive blow' to a major transnational organized crime group operating in the province.
Pacific Region RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul
Several million more 'potentially lethal doses of fentanyl'
The police said it was not known where the drugs would have been shipped, but a June 2024
The report identified China as the largest source country for illegal fentanyl and chemical precursors exported to Canada and North America since 2015.
Noé Chartier, Riley Donovan, and Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.
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Are you a small business owner dealing with the impact of tariffs, or do you have thoughts on how these policies are affecting the economy? Whether you've witnessed these challenges firsthand, have ideas for solutions, or simply want to share your perspective on what this means for American businesses, drop your thoughts in the comments — or anonymous form — below. Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
