Ahead of Critical U.S. Election, Congress Calls for Explosive Action on CCP’s Fentanyl Trafficking, ‘Hybrid Warfare’

WASHINGTON — Ahead of a world-shaping U.S. presidential election, a Congressional committee is urging a return to Trump-era policies and explosive new measures, including the designation of the Chinese Communist Party as a transnational drug trafficking organization.

These recommendations come in response to what the committee describes as China's hybrid warfare tactics—ranging from fentanyl-related deaths to broader influence operations—designed to weaken and destabilize the United States as the risk of direct conflict between global powers intensifies. In its hawkish report, the committee argues the Biden-Harris administration has undermined U.S. law enforcement and intelligence responses, failing to address escalating threats from a regime in Beijing that “actively seeks to destroy America.”

“The communist regime is a totalitarian force that surveils and harasses critics of the Party and people of Chinese descent around the world and poisons tens of thousands of Americans every year with fentanyl,” it says.

Unlike traditional warfare, the report argues, the CCP’s strategy does not rely on overt military actions but rather on covert tactics aimed at exploiting American vulnerabilities across social, economic, and health domains. Despite this, it claims, U.S. agencies under the current administration have been slow to confront Beijing with the necessary urgency and transparency.

“The public deserves to know about the CCP’s role in fentanyl production and how the Party is using fentanyl as a chemical weapon to kill Americans,” the report asserts. It recommends that Washington should publicly “blame the CCP as much as the DEA and its partners currently blame the Sinaloa Cartel” for fentanyl trafficking and urges the government to “educate international allies about CCP chemical warfare” and encourage them to condemn Chinese transnational crime.

The committee frames the CCP’s alleged support of organized crime as a form of unrestricted warfare that enables Mexican cartel activities in the U.S. while bolstering Chinese intelligence and influence operations. The report makes several explosive allegations to support this assertion, pointing to Mexico and Canada as well, and implicating Beijing’s United Front Work Department and Chinese mafia actors.

It claims that “CCP money laundering operations exacerbate the fentanyl crisis within our borders, providing Chinese criminal organizations with the funds needed to expand the CCP’s broader political warfare and influence operations across America.”

The report also states that “Chinese criminal organizations known as Triads employ a ‘favorite technique’ of elite capture, which involves ‘public photographs of Triad figures with politicians,’” adding that “the United Front often executes CCP elite capture to promote the communist regime’s agenda.”

Of all American agencies, the DEA was most forthcoming on Beijing’s ties to the international drug trade, according to the committee.

“Fentanyl precursors are manufactured in China and shipped to Mexico and Canada. For precursors that arrive in Mexico, Chinese transnational mafias work with Mexican cartels to smuggle and distribute fentanyl in the United States on behalf of the CCP,” the report states. “The DEA confirmed Chinese transnational crime leaders hold government positions in the CCP and indicated that Chinese transnational crime organizations are dedicated to the CCP.”

Among its most far-reaching recommendations, the committee calls for Congress to work with the DEA in classifying the CCP as a "Drug Trafficking Organization," a move that would grant Washington powers to pursue criminal forfeiture actions against CCP-owned corporations and Party members, within the United States and abroad.

Citing testimony from Peter Mattis, a former CIA official, the Congressional committee states that Beijing’s United Front should be regarded as a national security threat, advocating for “prohibiting their presence in the U.S. and any affiliated entities.”

Described as a vast “exportation of the CCP’s political system” on foreign soil, blending legal and illegal tactics, United Front networks involve Beijing’s security arms, including the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Public Security. Mattis testified the United Front exists to obscure Beijing’s intelligence operations and secure influence abroad through political warfare, quoting Chairman Mao’s principle: “How do we mobilize our friends to isolate and strike at our enemies?”

But Congressional leaders aren’t just concerned with fentanyl and Beijing’s United Front political networks. Building on findings from American investigative journalists, the report describes illegal marijuana grow-operations linked to Fujian mafias and Triads as part of a broader CCP hybrid-warfare strategy.

In Maine and Washington alone, there are at least 749 marijuana grow-ops with links to transnational crime, the report says. It highlights alarming evidence from Maine, where Chinese Triads have established a sprawling network of covert marijuana factories concealed within rural communities. One example linking Chinese diplomats loosely to Maine narcotics operations includes clothing found in a vehicle outside a semi-abandoned grow-op, with markings associated with the Sijiu Association of NYC, “a Chinese national group with ties to the CCP consulate in New York and the Chinese Communist Party.”

The committee’s narrative underscores a paradigm shift in how some U.S. lawmakers view the opioid crisis and transnational crime—not merely as a law enforcement and public health issue, but as an orchestrated assault by an adversarial superpower. For years, experts have warned about the dangers of synthetic opioids flooding into the U.S., yet seldom have these warnings extended to direct accusations against the CCP as a state sponsor of the epidemic.

If Congress adopts the committee's recommendations, this designation would place China’s ruling party alongside criminal cartels and militant groups on U.S. drug-trafficking lists. Such a move would mark a historic shift, with profound implications not only for law enforcement but for U.S. foreign policy and global diplomacy as a whole.

The report also critiques certain federal agencies, especially within the Intelligence Community, for withholding information by over-relying on classification. It argues there is ample open-source intelligence on CCP infiltration and influence activities to justify more public communication on these threats.

These calls for transparency, aggressive legal actions, and heightened public awareness reflect a shifting U.S. perspective—one that views the CCP’s actions as not merely economic rivalry but a direct and ongoing threat to American lives. As this narrative gains traction, it may push policymakers to redefine the scope of U.S.-China relations, moving beyond the usual bounds of trade and diplomacy.

“By any reasonable analysis, the United States faces a new cold war, but under the current administration, only its opponent—the CCP—is committed to winning it,” the scathing report concludes. “Unlike the first Cold War, the adversary is already within, having entrenched itself within U.S. borders, institutions, businesses, universities, and cultural centers by capturing elites in influential circles.”