U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said that former President Donald Trump's designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations acknowledges the strategic relationship between China, which produces fentanyl precursors, and the cartels that traffic the drug into the United States. Cornyn made this statement in a January 24 post on X.

According to the White House website, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on January 20th. In his inaugural address, he indicated several executive orders he plans to sign, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border. "All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came," Trump said. He also announced that his administration would end the policy of "catch and release" and designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that the Sinaloa Cartel has partnered with Chinese chemical suppliers to produce synthetic drugs and with Chinese money laundering organizations to return profits to Mexico.

Screenshot of Post on X | X

In July 2024, a Chinese national was indicted for involvement in a drug smuggling scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Southern District of Texas. Two thousand pounds of fentanyl precursor chemicals had been shipped from China into the United States and smuggled across the border into Mexico for fentanyl manufacture.

According to the New York Post, cartels can purchase fentanyl precursor chemicals through online platforms. For $3,600, individuals can acquire enough precursors to manufacture fentanyl with a potential street value of $3 million. Chinese suppliers dominate this trade by advertising and shipping these chemicals to Mexico, where cartels refine and traffic the drug into the United States.

Senator Cornyn is serving his fourth term as a U.S. Senator from Texas, according to his website.