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 interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that aired on May 18. The FBI is focused on fentanyl coming across the border and calling on state and local law enforcement partners to address the issue, he said, also noting that the Canadian government needs to do more.
“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.
“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 video posted on social media on May 18. “This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Canada, because we know that between 2023 and 2024, Canada saw an increase in the number of gangs and cartels and terrorist organizations doing business here in Canada, primarily in Ontario and in British Columbia.”
A 2024 report from Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) indicated that participation of Canada-based organized crime groups in fentanyl-related activities has increased by 42 percent since 2019.
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.
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