The U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions held a hearing about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is fueling the influx of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Committee Member Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) asked former U.S. Treasury Special Agent Jonathan Cassara if the CCP could “be designated as a threat to our country.” Cassara said the CCP could “very well be designated as an ongoing criminal enterprise.”
During his remarks, Ogles cited a report from Sergeant Brad Fann with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department which showed that the department’s Narcotics Division recently found 26 different narcotics operations and in all 26 cases, the drugs tested positive for fentanyl substances.
Ogles used this report to further argue that the CCP is “destroying American communities.”
“The high demand for opioids in this country is being fueled by cartel access to our ports and our porous and open border. Our failure to secure our own sovereignty is creating a financial incentive for the Chinese Communist Party to kill Americans,” Ogles stated.
The CCP is funneling deadly fentanyl across our southwest border and making illicit financial transactions. Something must be done to stop the CCP and protect our children and communities. pic.twitter.com/Smx1sez7ly
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) March 23, 2023
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine and can kill a grown adult in two milligrams, approximately the size of a mosquito.
Most fentanyl is mass-produced in Mexico using chemicals from China before being pressed into pills or mixed with other counterfeit drugs.
During the hearing, members of the subcommittee heard testimony on how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is fueling the influx of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border from Cassara and the following witnesses:
- Mr. Donald Im, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Cyber Section DEA Special Operations Division (Retired)
- Professor Celina B. Realuyo, Adjunct Professor, The George Washington University
- Mr. Jason Grellner, Vice President of Healthcare, Evolv Technology
- Ms. Gretchen Peters, Executive Director, Alliance to Counter Crime Online
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Thank you Representative Ogles for addressing this critical national security issue. The CCP murders drug dealers in their country. That’s why they have no drug problem. Same with TikTok. They don’t allow their youth to watch the trash.
I would be in favor of instituting the death penalty in the US for those pushing these deadly drugs into our country. China must be pushed as well.