FBI Director Kash Patel secretly visited China to discuss the fight against fentanyl smuggling, Reuters reports, citing two sources familiar with the trip. The unannounced visit, according to the report, began on Friday when Patel arrived in Beijing and stayed for about a day. He reportedly engaged in discussions with Chinese officials on Saturday. Neither the U.S. nor Chinese authorities have officially confirmed these talks.
The visit follows President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a regional summit in South Korea last month. Following the summit, Trump lifted tariffs on U.S. imports from China that had been linked to fentanyl. The two countries are entrenched in what Trump has labeled a trade war.
The U.S. has accused Beijing of facilitating the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals used to manufacture the synthetic opioid, which has been blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in the U.S.
China has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated, pointing to its domestic efforts to crack down on illegal chemical producers. According to the DEA, most fentanyl entering the U.S. comes from Mexico, where cartels synthesize the drug using imported precursors. Drug seizure statistics indicate that the majority of fentanyl enters the country through official ports of entry along the southern border rather than via clandestine smuggling routes.
The Trump administration has also used allegations of narcoterrorism to justify maritime airstrikes against civilian vessels alleged to be involved in fentanyl smuggling from Venezuela. However, DEA records indicate that Venezuela’s role in the global f,entanyl trade is negligible.