Sam Cooper

Elevated production levels in Canada—particularly from highly sophisticated fentanyl “super laboratories,” such as the type dismantled by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in October 2024—pose a mounting concern.

A rising convergence of Chinese state-linked chemical suppliers, Mexican drug cartels, Chinese narcotics cash brokers operating across North America, and the emergence of Canadian fentanyl “super laboratories” has triggered new concerns for United States national security agencies, according to the latest threat assessment from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, released Thursday, describes the crisis as a transnational system driven by industrial-scale synthetic drug production and laundering networks stretching from Guangdong to Sinaloa to Vancouver. While Mexican cartels remain the dominant traffickers of fentanyl and methamphetamine into the United States, the DEA names Canada for the first time as a growing supply-side threat.

Elevated production levels in Canada—particularly from highly sophisticated fentanyl “super laboratories,” such as the type dismantled by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in October 2024—pose a mounting concern.

The laboratory was uncovered in Falkland, British Columbia—a remote, mountainous region roughly midway between Vancouver and Calgary. While Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials released few details, law enforcement sources in both Canada and the United States confirmed to The Bureau that the raid was triggered by intelligence from the DEA.

According to these sources, the site forms part of a broader criminal convergence involving Chinese, Mexican, and Iranian networks operating across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. The Bureau’s sources indicate that the Falkland facility was connected to Chinese chemical exporters sanctioned by the United States Treasury, Iranian threat actors, and operatives from Mexican drug cartels.

The 80-page DEA assessment emphasizes that while fentanyl flows from Canada remain smaller in volume compared to Mexico, the potential for Canadian production to scale quickly is a major concern. United States officials warn that law enforcement crackdowns in Mexico could prompt traffickers to shift operations northward, where precursor chemical controls and policing pressures are widely seen as more permissive.

The fallout from the Falkland raid continues to expand. Investigations in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland are probing chemical importers tied to methamphetamine and fentanyl precursor shipments from China. Authorities are examining companies suspected of misrepresenting the commercial purpose and origin of these dual-use chemicals.

One case highlighted by the DEA underscores the scale and sophistication of cartel-linked financial operations. A multi-billion-dollar smuggling and laundering scheme—spanning petroleum, methamphetamine, and heroin—was discovered involving Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos. The criminal network, according to the report, funneled stolen crude oil into the United States and sold it to American energy firms using trade-based money laundering mechanisms. It was linked to senior figures in multiple cartels, including Sinaloa, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, and the Gulf Cartel.

“The investigation has determined that this black-market petroleum smuggling operation is the primary means by which the transnational criminal organization funds its networks,” the DEA report states. “It is estimated that Mexico is losing tens of billions in tax revenue annually, while simultaneously costing the United States oil and gas companies billions of dollars annually due to a decline in petroleum imports and exports during this same period.”

Officials describe the petroleum scheme as a major financial lifeline for cartel power, and say investigations are now expanding to examine American facilitators and corporate enablers.

The DEA further outlines how Chinese and Mexican actors evade international chemical controls through mislabeling, transshipment via third countries, and freight forwarding chains—some knowingly complicit, others unwittingly exploited. Precursor shipments often arrive in the United States or Canada under false declarations, before being diverted to clandestine laboratories in Mexico.

Distribution methods include air cargo, maritime freight, land couriers, and even border tunnels. Once drugs enter the United States, they are routed through interstate highways and distributed to urban markets by street-level dealers, many of whom are recruited through encrypted channels such as Snapchat and Telegram.

Another network detailed in the report illustrates a continent-wide money laundering system anchored by the Chinese underground banking model, with a central hub operating out of New York City. Drug proceeds from across the United States are funneled through marijuana cultivation fronts using nominee owners, casino laundering, and mortgage fraud. Sources familiar with Canadian enforcement files told The Bureau this laundering model mirrors, and is connected to, operations in Vancouver and Toronto, where Triad-linked criminal networks manage shell companies and real estate portfolios.

The report also outlines the extensive involvement of Chinese organized crime groups in illicit cannabis production—particularly in regions where recreational marijuana is legalized or poorly regulated. These groups now dominate marijuana cultivation and distribution in both Canada and the United States. They are producing what the DEA calls the most potent marijuana in the history of trafficking, with tetrahydrocannabinol content averaging between 25 and 30 percent.

These networks rely on a logistics model that spans the continent. Domestically grown cannabis is transported across the United States in personal vehicles, tractor-trailers, and rental trucks. Criminal groups move product from jurisdictions such as British Columbia, California, Ontario, Maine, Oklahoma and Oregon into other states and provinces. High-THC cannabis is also in high demand in international markets such as the United Kingdom, France, and Spain, with overseas shipments typically dispatched via air cargo or container shipping from Canadian ports.

The Bureau has reported extensively on how Triads and individuals linked to Chinese foreign influence efforts have acquired numerous residential and industrial and agricultural properties in British Columbia and Ontario—many of which were converted into covert cannabis grow operations. These properties are routinely purchased in cash, registered under nominee names, and later tied to underground banking flows. According to sources with access to United States enforcement files, the laundering architecture is identical to systems used to recycle fentanyl and methamphetamine profits through bulk cash pickups, informal transfer networks, and false invoicing in international trade.

Seizure statistics underscore the increasing scale and complexity of the fentanyl crisis. In 2024, United States authorities intercepted more than 61 million fentanyl pills, many disguised as prescription pharmaceuticals. Xylazine, a veterinary sedative, remains the most common fentanyl adulterant. But a new, far more powerful veterinary anesthetic—medetomidine—is now being detected in seized drug supplies. The Drug Enforcement Administration flags this trend as extremely dangerous, noting that medetomidine may be 200 to 300 times more potent than xylazine, posing life-threatening risks to drug users and first responders alike.

New data obtained by The Bureau illustrates the geography of fentanyl’s impact across the United States. A study analyzing overdose fatalities from 2018 to 2022, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, identifies Ohio as one of the states hardest hit by the synthetic opioid epidemic. The research, conducted by Georgia-based Bader Scott Injury Lawyers, found that Ohio averaged 40.8 overdose deaths per 100,000 residents—nearly 50 percent above the national average of 27.5. The state recorded an average of 4,795 overdose deaths per year during the five-year study period, peaking at 5,397 in 2021.

West Virginia had the highest overdose fatality rate, with an average of 65.9 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Delaware, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Maryland. Other states in the top ten included Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Connecticut—all experiencing relentless waves of synthetic opioid deaths.

“These states have been particularly hard-hit by the opioid epidemic, facing challenges with prescription painkillers, heroin, and increasingly, synthetic opioids like fentanyl,” the study concludes. “A combination of socioeconomic factors, healthcare access limitations, and geographic challenges has created perfect conditions for this crisis across these regions.”

National Citizens Coalition Slams Carney Government’s Disastrous Start

The National Citizens Coalition (NCC) is sounding the alarm on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government, which has stumbled out of the gate with a series of missteps that threaten Canada’s prosperity and unity. From housing, to justice, to energy policy, the Carney cabinet’s early remarks signal a continuation of failed Trudeau-era policies, compounded by a refusal to provide fiscal transparency. We urge Canadians to voice their outrage and to hold these failing status-quo profiteers to account — before it’s too late.

Gregor Robertson’s Immediate Housing Fumble: A Crisis Ignored

One of the early architects of Canada’s generational housing crises, controversial former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has already dashed hopes for meaningful reform. During his tenure in Vancouver, which was marred by corruption and scandal, housing prices more than doubled, and municipal taxes on new homes soared by over 140%. Now, just days into his federal role, Robertson has declared that home prices don’t need to come down, dismissing the struggles of millions of Canadians priced out of the market. This tone-deaf stance, his apparent refusal to understand basic principles of supply and demand, coupled with his track record of overseeing Vancouver’s affordability crisis, suggests the Liberals have no plan to deliver on their promise to allow Canadian under-50s back into the housing market.

Canadians deserve a housing minister who understands the urgency of the crisis, and who won’t just commit to building Brookfield-backed dog-crate leaseholds. Young working Canadians are understandably worried, and this is as bad a start as feared for all those who have been denied the Canadian Dream.

Sean Fraser’s Justice Appointment: Failing Families Amid Rising Crime

The decision to appoint Sean Fraser as Minister of Justice is equally troubling. Fraser, who previously oversaw historically unsustainable immigration levels as Immigration Minister and delivered no measurable results as Housing Minister, now takes on a justice portfolio at a time when random violent attacks are leaving families shaken across Canada. Reports of stabbings, assaults, and public safety breakdowns dominate headlines, yet Fraser’s early comments suggest he may prioritize working from home over tackling the crime wave head-on. Canadians need a justice minister focused on restoring safety and locking up criminals, not one “failing upward” into a role he’s unprepared to handle. This status-quo quite literally kills.

Steven Guilbeault Executes a Unity Crisis

Steven Guilbeault, now Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, has wasted no time inflaming tensions with Western Canada. On May 13, 2025, Guilbeault questioned the need for new pipelines, pointing to excess capacity in the Trans Mountain pipeline and predicting a global peak in oil demand. This anti-energy rhetoric, from a former environment minister known for his activist opposition to resource development, risks alienating Alberta and other resource-dependent regions. At a time when Canada needs a united front, Guilbeault’s comments threaten to deepen divisions and undermine economic growth. The NCC condemns this reckless approach, which prioritizes ideology over jobs and national unity.

Like Gregor Robertson, Guilbeault must be removed from his file at once.

Carney’s Budget Refusal: Hiding from Accountability — Just Like Justin

Perhaps most alarming is Carney’s announcement that his government will not table a federal budget in 2025, opting instead for a vague “fall economic statement.” This decision leaves Canadians in the dark about the government’s fiscal plans at a time of economic uncertainty, including U.S. tariff disruptions and rising deficits. Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page has warned that campaign platforms are outdated, and Parliament will be asked to approve spending without a clear framework. By dodging a budget, Carney is evading accountability and undermining trust in his government’s ability to manage Canada’s finances responsibly.

A Call to Action for Canadians

The NCC stands with the millions of Canadians who demand better, and the growing working-class coalition of common-sense conservatives. Carney’s cabinet appointments and early policy signals reveal a government out of touch with the priorities of hardworking families, energy workers, and taxpayers. We call on supporters to join us in pressing for real change: policies that make housing more affordable, that bring immigration back in line with sustainable norms, that make streets safe, and that make energy development more robust and life more affordable.

And this government will not be allowed to get away with the lack of economic transparency of the last ten years.

This has been as bad a start as it gets. More won’t just be expected of Carney. It will be demanded.

Founded in 1967, the National Citizens Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for smaller government, lower taxes, and greater individual freedom. We amplify the voices of Canadians who believe in accountability, prosperity, and unity.

If you share our alarm, your support is most welcome with a donation.