WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following a months-long investigation, Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party revealed their findings of the Chinese Communist Party’s role in the deadly fentanyl epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. The fentanyl crisis is one of the most horrific disasters that America has ever faced. On average, fentanyl kills over 200 Americans daily, the equivalent of a packed Boeing 737 crashing every single day. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45 and a leading cause in the historic drop in American life expectancy. It has led to millions more suffering from addiction, and the destruction of countless families and communities. Beyond the United States, fentanyl and other mass-produced synthetic narcotics from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are devastating nations around the world. It is truly a global crisis. The PRC, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ultimate geographic source of the fentanyl crisis. Companies in China produce nearly all of illicit fentanyl precursors, the key ingredients that drive the global illicit fentanyl trade. The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (Select Committee) launched an investigation to better understand the role of the CCP in the fentanyl crisis. This investigation involved delving deep into public PRC websites, analyzing PRC government documents, acquiring over 37,000 unique data points of PRC companies selling narcotics online through web scraping and data analytics, undercover communications with PRC drug trafficking companies, and consultations with experts in the public and private sectors, among other steps. The Select Committee's investigation has established that the PRC government, under the control of the CCP: - Directly subsidizes the manufacturing and export of illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics through tax rebates. Many of these substances are illegal under the PRC’s own laws and have no known legal use worldwide. Like its export tax rebates for legitimate goods, the CCP’s subsidies of illegal drugs incentivizes international synthetic drug sales from the PRC. The CCP never disclosed this program.
- Gave monetary grants and awards to companies openly trafficking illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics. There are even examples of some of these companies enjoying site visits from provincial PRC government officials who complimented them for their impact on the provincial economy.
- Holds ownership interest in several PRC companies tied to drug trafficking. This includes a PRC government prison connected to human rights abuses owning a drug trafficking chemical company and a publicly traded PRC company hosting thousands of instances of open drug trafficking on its sites.
- Fails to prosecute fentanyl and precursor manufacturers. Rather than investigating drug traffickers, PRC security services have not cooperated with U.S. law enforcement, and have even notified targets of U.S. investigations when they received requests for assistance.
- Allows the open sale of fentanyl precursors and other illicit materials on the extensively monitored and controlled PRC internet. A review of just seven e-commerce sites found over 31,000 instances of PRC companies selling illicit chemicals with obvious ties to drug trafficking. Undercover communications with PRC drug trafficking companies (whose identities were provided to U.S. law enforcement) revealed an eagerness to engage in clearly illicit drug sales with no fear of reprisal.
- Censors content about domestic drug sales, but leaves export-focused narcotics content untouched. The PRC has censorship triggers for domestic drug sales (e.g., “fentanyl + cash on delivery”), but no such triggers exist to monitor or prevent the export of illicit narcotics out of the PRC.
- Strategically and economically benefits from the fentanyl crisis. The fentanyl crisis has helped CCP-tied Chinese organized criminal groups become the world’s premier money launderers, enriched the PRC’s chemical industry, and has had a devastating impact on Americans.
While the PRC government publicly acknowledged in November 2023 that the trafficking of fentanyl precursors and other illicit narcotics materials in the manner described above is illegal under Chinese law, the Select Committee found thousands of PRC companies openly selling these illicit materials on the Chinese internet—the most heavily surveilled country-wide network in the world. The CCP runs the most advanced techno-totalitarian state in human history that “leave[s] criminals with nowhere to hide” and has the means to stop illicit fentanyl materials manufacturers, yet it has failed to pursue flagrant violations of its own laws. Armed with the knowledge gained in the course of this investigation, the report finds that the United States should: - Establish a Joint Task Force – Counter Opioids (JTF-CO) that concentrates all non-military elements of state power and executes a coordinated strategy to target the weak points in the global illicit fentanyl supply chain.
- Provide law enforcement and intelligence officials with the statutory authorities, tools, and resources they need to execute their responsibilities, including through enhancing international law enforcement cooperation, appropriately prioritizing fentanyl and anti-money laundering in intelligence and enforcement efforts; and recruiting and retaining top talent to combat the fentanyl threat.
- Strengthen U.S. sanctions authorities and use those authorities in an aggressive and coordinated manner against entities involved in the fentanyl trade.
- Enact and use trade and customs enforcement measures to restrict fentanyl trafficking; and
- Close regulatory and enforcement gaps exploited by PRC money launderers and fentanyl traffickers.
READ THE FULL REPORT HERE. Read Chairman Gallagher’s opening remarks HERE and the opening video script HERE. Read former Attorney General William P. Barr’s prepared testimony HERE. Read former DEA Chief of Operations Ray Donovan’s prepared testimony HERE. Read Mr. David Luckey’s prepared testimony HERE. |
