FBI Director Kash Patel plans travel to China in fentanyl crackdown effort

FBI Director Kash Patel is set to visit China next month as the agency cracks down on international suppliers of chemicals tied to fentanyl, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the plan.

Patel and President Trump have made combating precursor chemicals produced overseas and related funding streams a cornerstone of the administration's anti-drug policies, blaming China for fostering the United States' addiction crisis. 

The FBI did not immediately reply to a request for comment. It is unclear whom Patel plans to meet with during the trip.

Mr. Trump said he will bring up the illegal drug problem when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea.

"The first question I'm going to be asking him about is fentanyl," Mr. Trump said during an event in the White House State Dining Room on Thursday meant to highlight the crackdown on drug cartels that traffic narcotics. "I'm putting it right at the front of the list." 

Mr. Trump said at the event that the administration has so far seized 150,000 pounds of narcotics. 

"Those aren't numbers — those are lives, lives saved by the millions. The millions. Enough fentanyl to kill over 200 million Americans gone, evaporated off our streets, permanently," Patel said at the White House event.

The CDC estimates that there were 48,422 deaths tied to fentanyl in 2024, down from 76,282 the year before. The provisional estimates are based on state death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Mr. Trump announced days after taking office that he intended to impose duties on China for "failing to stem" the flow of drugs to the United States and "by actively sustaining and expanding the business of poisoning our citizens."

The Justice Department has made that effort a focal point. On Sept. 3, Patel revealed an indictment he called "first-of-its-kind," charging Chinese companies and individuals that allegedly manufacture precursor chemicals needed for fentanyl production.

"This operation has already seized enough fentanyl powder to kill 70 million Americans and enough fentanyl pills to kill another 270,000," Patel said. "And we have now indicted the Chinese precursor companies and exposed the funding streams that facilitate this deadly trade."

During Senate testimony on Sept. 16, Patel added that the agency has also seized cryptocurrency wallets tied to mainland Chinese businesses and enterprises suspected of involvement in fentanyl production.