FBI Director Kash Patel has said that with Beijing shutting off exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals, cartels in Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia are scrambling to find alternatives—and there aren’t any.
“We know where they are, we know who they are, we know how they do it. And when we surveil and monitor and investigate these folks, we see that they are complaining about not having the necessary ingredients and mechanics to make fentanyl,” Patel said in an exclusive interview aired at 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 29.
“That is an immediate impact that they haven’t complained about in years.”
In early November, Patel traveled to China for a meeting on the logistics of how Beijing would make good on its agreement to curb fentanyl precursor exports after the U.S.–China bilateral meeting in South Korea. It resulted in export bans on 13 fentanyl precursors and seven additional chemicals.
Domestically, the FBI under the Trump administration is cracking down on violent crime—in what Patel describes as a “sea change” in approach—by empowering local offices and increasing staffing nationwide. The result is 30,000 arrests this year, including 25,000 violent offenders, or twice as many year-to-date, and a sharp drop in the murder rate, according to the FBI director.
Some of these priority missions—fentanyl, human trafficking, and financial crimes—require international cooperation.
Global Fentanyl Network
Patel said the fentanyl issue is a global one, referencing his recent Asia trip that had several stops beyond China.
“It doesn’t just rest with China. We’ve worked brilliantly with our partners in India to stop the transshipments there. We went to Japan on this trip for the same reason,” he said.
The Japan trip led to law enforcement cooperation and agreements allowing extradition to the United States “for the first time in five years,” Patel added.
Stopping the flow of precursors had immediate results, according to Patel.
“That pipeline being shut off is forcing drug traffickers to scramble, which we’re seeing, for alternatives,” Patel said. “And here’s the good news: they know, and we know, there aren’t any. That’s why we came up with this list.”
Near the end of the first Trump administration, the president secured an agreement from Beijing to restrict the export of fentanyl to the United States. Subsequently, fentanyl trafficking exploded because Chinese chemical companies began selling precursors and pill presses to traffickers in Mexico.
“This is step two in the second administration, shutting off the precursors, because we literally cut the snake off at the head,” Patel said.
By Jan Jekielek and Catherine Yang
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About the Video Interview
In this exclusive interview with FBI Director Kash Patel, we dive into the agency’s crackdown on crime and foreign espionage, his trip to China, the “burn bags,” and recent criticisms.
What exactly is the “764 network,” and how is the FBI working to target these actors? Why did President Donald Trump label Antifa a domestic terror organization, and how does this alter the playing field?
Does the FBI director’s recent visit to China signify a pivot in the agency’s priorities? Given Beijing’s record of broken promises, can we really expect the regime to honor its side of the fentanyl deal?
The criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey was dismissed—what’s next? What are the FBI “burn bags,” and what was really discovered in those Trump investigation documents?
Patel also reacts to recent headlines and controversies regarding his use of an FBI aircraft, the security detail for his partner, Alexis Wilkins, and rumors that Trump planned to replace him as FBI director.
