The Link Between Pot and Fentanyl Cartels - While the DEA moves to reclassify marijuana, drug danger looms

by Wyoming Liberty Group

In a recent message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Rep. Rachel Rogriguez-Williams, a state lawmaker from Cody in the 50th District, shared an important quote from the former chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Here's that quote: "We quickly realized that money from selling fentanyl on the streets was going back to Chinese money brokers in Brooklyn and in Queens," the former DEA official said in a recent investigation published by CBS News.

Let's unpack that: Cartels are peddling fentanyl—the drug that's killing tens of thousands of Americans every year, including in Wyoming—and they're funneling the proceeds from those illegal drug transactions into another trade, marijuana.

That's called money laundering. This, by the way, is particularly relevant for us in Wyoming because pro-pot forces are trying to crack open the market here, where marijuana remains illegal. It's also notable that the startling quote comes from a former top official of the DEA—the very same federal agency that is now moving to reschedule marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

Ironic?

How about foolish? If the federal government moves marijuana from its designation, Schedule I, to Schedule III, it would loosen restrictions on pot, including providing tax breaks for marijuana businesses, encouraging the growth of the drug trade. But perhaps equally importantly, the fed's move would signal a shift in public perception—that marijuana is somehow not dangerous.

It is.

At a recent congressional hearing, U.S. senators focused on Chinese money laundering and concerns about a congressional bill that would open banking services for U.S. marijuana businesses.

"If this legislation passes, Chinese money laundering organizations will have an additional avenue for cleaning dirty money," U.S Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was quoted as saying. "They can simply hand it off to Chinese criminal organizations fraudulently running state sanctioned marijuana farms, for introduction into the U.S. banking system."

At the congressional hearing, the DEA's chief of operations confirmed that his agency has found that, among many marijuana cultivators across the country, "The people working in those facilities and cultivating for those facilities are controlled and work at the behest of Chinese money laundering organizations or growers' organizations."

In the CBS News investigative report, the former DEA official said that thousands of black-market marijuana operations have emerged in various states, including California, Colorado and Oklahoma. And who's bankrolling these illegal pot farms?

"Chinese organized criminal networks that are international by nature are behind some of the biggest black market marijuana trafficking organizations that we've seen to date," said the former DEA official.

In February, it was such a cause for concern that 50 U.S. lawmakers wrote to the attorney general, requesting information about the growing problem. "We are deeply concerned with reports from across the country regarding Chinese nationals and organized crime cultivating marijuana on United States farmland," the lawmakers wrote.

The DEA, following the flow of illicit fentanyl money, was able to link Chinese cartels who deal in fentanyl to their other business in illegal marijuana. Federal authorities have long been aware that many of the precursors—the chemicals—used to make fentanyl come from China. And let's not forget that the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 is from fentanyl overdoses, fueling the U.S. drug crisis.

But we should know better. In the DEA's National Drug Threat Assessment, published in 2021, the federal agency stated, "Many DTOs [drug traffic organizations] and TCOs [transnational criminal organizations] involved in large-scale marijuana production are also involved in other criminal activity, including financial fraud, international money laundering, and polydrug trafficking and production. Marijuana generates millions of dollars that furthers the scope of their criminal activity throughout the United States."

This troubling link between marijuana and cartels dealing in other drugs, such as fentanyl, comes from the same federal agency that now wants to reschedule marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Indeed, the DEA is aware of several major drug cartels whose illegal businesses involve significant shipments of fentanyl, meth, cocaine—and marijuana.

And, to bring this full circle, what of Rep. Rogriguez-Williams of Cody who, in her recent message on X, alerted the public to the problems of marijuana and the drug's link to cartels peddling fentanyl?

The state lawmaker received a failing grade of "F" from "Smoke the Vote," a site of NORML, the pro-pot organization that has been trying to legalize marijuana in Wyoming and elsewhere.

Consider that "F" a badge of honor.