Kash Patel flew to Beijing to discuss the fight against fentanyl smuggling, according to the agency
FBI Director Kash Patel made an unannounced visit to China last week to discuss “fentanyl and law enforcement issues,” Reuters reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the trip.
According to Reuters, Patel arrived in Beijing on Friday and stayed for about a day. He reportedly held talks with Chinese officials on Saturday. Neither side has officially confirmed the talks.
The report comes after US President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a regional summit in South Korea last month. Following the meeting, Trump lifted tariffs on imports from China that his administration had linked to fentanyl. The two powers are engaged in what the US president has called a trade war.
US officials have accused Beijing of enabling the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals used to manufacture the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in America.
China has called the allegations politically motivated, pointing to its domestic crackdown on illegal chemical producers.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), most fentanyl entering the US comes from Mexico, where cartels synthesize it using imported precursors. Drug seizure statistics indicate that the majority of fentanyl comes through official ports of entry along the southern border rather than through clandestine smuggling routes.
The Trump administration has also used allegations of narcoterrorism to justify maritime airstrikes strikes on civilian vessels that the president claimed were involved in fentanyl smuggling from Venezuela.
While the administration has linked Venezuela to cocaine transit routes, DEA records indicate that its role in the global fentanyl trade is negligible.
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