Adm. Craig Faller, a senior U.S. military leader, told Congress last year that Chinese launderers had emerged as the \u201cNo. 1 underwriter\u201d of drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. The Chinese government is \u201cat least tacitly supporting\u201d the laundering activity, testified Faller, who led the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military activity in Latin America.<\/p>\n
In an interview with ProPublica, the now-retired Faller elaborated on his little-noticed testimony. He said China has \u201cthe world\u2019s largest and most sophisticated state security apparatus. So there\u2019s no doubt that they have the ability to stop things if they want to. They don\u2019t have any desire to stop this. There\u2019s a lot of theories as to why they don\u2019t. But it is certainly aided and abetted by the attitude and way that the People\u2019s Republic of China views the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some U.S. officials go further, arguing that Chinese authorities have decided as a matter of policy to foster the drug trade in the Americas in order to destabilize the region and spread corruption, addiction and death here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suspected a Chinese ideological and strategic motivation behind the drug and money activity,\u201d said former senior FBI official Frank Montoya Jr., who served as a top counterintelligence official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. \u201cTo fan the flames of hate and division. The Chinese have seen the advantages of the drug trade. If fentanyl helps them and hurts this country, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story is about the convergence of two of the top security threats to the United States: Latin American drug cartels and the authoritarian regime in China. https:\/\/t.co\/BYk0iZkI5L<\/a><\/p>\n — ProPublica (@propublica) October 12, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n