US Select Committee on CCP concludes session on China penetrating drug trade in Washington

Washington [US], July 26 : The US-based Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party's (SCCCP) Fentanyl Policy Working Group (FPWG) recently concluded its session, discussing the 'tactics' used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to facilitate drug trade-based money-laundering into the US and the measures to counter it.
The session was headed by US lawmakers Jake Auchincloss and Dan Newhouse. Former members of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) participated in the event.
During the session held on Wednesday, several negative aspects of CCP bypassing law enforcement and the banking system in the US were discussed.
These tactics are allegedly being used to support and flourish the drug trade in the US. The session also highlighted a crucial demand for renovation in the current system to compete and counter the CCPs shady tactics to bypass the law.
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US lawmaker Dan Newhouse in his statement during the session highlighted that how money launders in China use modern technologies and the opaque nature of the Chinese banking system to move large sums of money with impunity.
"Chinese money-launderers have taken terrorist money-laundering playbook and digitized it. They use modern technologies, messaging and payment apps, e-commerce sites, digital assets, and the opaque nature of the Chinese banking system to move large sums of money and facilitate trade-based money laundering with impunity," Newshouse said.
"This system largely evades the formal banking system in the United States Mexico and elsewhere, making it particularly difficult to counter with traditional anti-money-laundering tools. But you should make no mistake, the CCP financing system runs right through Chinese banks, and the CCP knows all about it," he added.
Newhouse also stated that the Beijing's "illicit financing" of the fentanyl trade is state-sponsored in China, and state actors protect these organizations from US prosecution and the elites in China often use these networks to enrich themselves. He also recommended special steps be taken to repair these discrepancies.

During the meeting, Don Im a former member of the DEA explained with an example how the drug trade expanded by the CCP uses an elaborate system to launder money from the US to China.
Im mentioned, "They call it a contract. Let's assume that the Sinaloa cartel just sold USD 1 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine in Queens, New York. The head of that drug sale in Queens will contact his superior in Mexico. The Sinaloa cartel financier in Mexico will then reach out to various Chinese-Mexican businessmen who operate as money launderers and money brokers. They own businesses. They own shopping malls. They sell all kinds of products, namely from China."
His remarks further underscored how the money generated by drug sales in the US is passed through various channels and reaches China.
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Im also elaborated on the scale of the ongoing illicit trade in the US and said it bypasses Washington's ability to find the nexus making the situation more challenging.
"You're seeing literally half a trillion to three-quarters of a trillion dollars' worth of drug proceeds generated every year. So this bypasses our ability to find that nexus between the drug proceeds in New York with those commodities that are shipped into Mexico. That makes it more challenging," he added.

Another member of the session, John Cassara a former CIA agent in his statement said that Chinese money launderers completely avoid US' primary anti-money laundering countermeasures and financial intelligence.
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"One of the things that makes this so difficult for US criminal investigators is that it almost completely avoids our primary anti-money laundering countermeasures and financial intelligence. There's no paper trail to follow. And that's what we've been relying on so much to fight this war against money laundering. We don't have that kind of record because they successfully bypass it. We don't have that kind of record because they successfully bypass it," he stated.
He added, "The CCP is an ideological, military, economic, commercial, high-tech, intelligence, and diplomatic rival of the US and the West. And while these threats are known, the CCP's involvement with transnational crime and money laundering is not. We cannot look at the fentanyl issue in a vacuum or as an isolated concern".
Cassara further alleged that criminal activity has seemingly become part of the CCP's "overall strategy to grow its power."
"By measuring the illicit proceeds of crime generated, China leads the world in all of those criminal categories," he added.