WASHINGTON – The Chinese Communist party (CCP) gives monetary grants and awards to companies openly trafficking illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics, according to a new U.S. House committee report. Investigators also claim that the party 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,” a press release reads, “Like its export tax rebates for legitimate goods, the CCP’s subsidies of illegal drugs incentivize international synthetic drug sales from the PRC.”
The report says that the CCP never disclosed this program.
Furthermore, investigators allege that the party holds ownership in several companies tied to drug trafficking, including a PRC government prison that owns a drug trafficking chemical company and a publicly traded PRC company that hosts thousands of instances of open drug trafficking on its sites.
The report goes on to allege that CCP fails to prosecute fentanyl and precursor manufacturers, allows the open sale of fentanyl precursors on the extensively monitored and controlled PRC internet, and strategically and economically benefits from the opioid 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,” the report reads.
In light of the investigation, the House committee recommends that the US strengthen sanctions, enact and use trade and customs enforcement measures, and create a Joint Task Force – Counter Opioids (JTF-CO) that creates a strategy to target the weak points in the global illicit fentanyl supply chain.
