FBI Director Kash Patel made a surprise appearance in the White House Press Briefing Room on Wednesday alongside Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to make a big announcement on the Trump Administration’s efforts to end the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Following President Trump’s trip to Asia last month, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Patel’s subsequent visit to China last week, Patel said China has agreed to halt the production of fentanyl precursors, which are used by the cartels to make illegal fentanyl.
“The Chinese government agreed on a plan to stop fentanyl precursors,” Patel said.
“The People’s Republic of China has fully designated and listed all 13 precursors utilized to make fentanyl. Furthermore, they have agreed to control seven chemical subsidiaries that are also utilized to produce this lethal drug.”
“Essentially, President Trump has shut off the pipeline that creates fentanyl that kills tens of thousands of Americans,” he added.
“These substances are now banned, and they will no longer be utilized by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations.”
Patel described the breakthrough as a “historic, first-in-its-kind, achievement by any president to stop the scourge of fentanyl,” which “should be championed by every single American.”
Patel also touted the Trump Administration’s seizure of at least 1900 kilograms of fentanyl, “a 31% increase from the same time period last year,” Patel said, and “enough fentanyl to kill 127 million Americans.”
Patel did not take any questions after making the announcement.
WATCH:
Patel: As Karoline mentioned, we have some tremendous news thanks to President Donald J Trump, once again for the American people. As soon as the President of the United States took office, he issued a mandate to rid America of the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Thanks to his leadership and direct engagements with China, we set up a framework to execute that mission eight months ago. Attorney General Bondi, immediately thereafter, took steps to engage her counterpart in China at the Ministry of Public Security, pursuant to their direct discussions, as the FBI Director designated to run counterpoint on this, along with Secretary of State Rubio and Ambassador Perdue and the team here at the White House, we set forward a path to implement the policy needed to crush the plague of fentanyl.
Deputy Attorney General Blanche and our teams have been hard at work ever since, ultimately culminating in my trip to Beijing last week. This was only possible due to President Trump’s historic engagement with President Xi just a few short weeks ago that set the stage for today’s announcement. At that meeting, the leaders reached an agreement. But just to put this in frame for the American people, a reminder here that nearly 100,000 people died of fentanyl overdoses just last year alone. Here this year, under this President, the FBI has seized 1900 kilograms of fentanyl so far. That is a 31% increase from the same time period last year.
To put it in perspective, that’s enough fentanyl to kill 127 million Americans. Fentanyl precursors are what makes up fentanyl. While we, the interagency, the Department of Justice, have been fighting hard to seize and stop drug traffickers, we must attack fentanyl precursors, the ingredients necessary to make this lethal drug. That was the sole purpose of my trip to China: to eliminate these precursors. And if successful, we would suffocate the drug trafficking organization’s ability to manufacture fentanyl in places like Mexico.
This was the first time an FBI director has been to China in over a decade and received the audience, with his counterpart, to address this matter directly. And again, thanks to President Trump’s direct engagement with President Xi, the government of China committed fully to my engagement there on the ground in Beijing at a level never seen before. While at Ministry of Public Security Headquarters, I met with my counterpart at MPS, where the Chinese government agreed on a plan to stop fentanyl precursors.
What does that mean? The People’s Republic of China has fully designated and listed all 13 precursors utilized to make fentanyl. Furthermore, they have agreed to control seven chemical subsidiaries that are also utilized to produce this lethal drug. Effective immediately, essentially, President Trump has shut off the pipeline that creates fentanyl that kills tens of thousands of Americans. These substances are now banned, and they will no longer be utilized by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations or any other DTOs around the world to make this drug.
This historic achievement has saved tens of thousands of lives. This historic achievement would not have been possible without the tremendous team of President Trump, the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Ambassador Perdue in China, whose ground level engagements were imperative to achieving this result.
This is yet another example of how President Trump defends the American people, provides security for the American people, and puts the American people first. This is a historic, first-in-its-kind, achievement by any president to stop the scourge of fentanyl, and it should be championed by every single American. This achievement will save lives. We are thankful for President Trump’s steadfast leadership, and this FBI will fearlessly follow in his footsteps to ensure that this mission of safeguarding the American public is achieved every single day.
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