Rep. Dusty Johnson blames China for fentanyl crisis in America

U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson is now a member of the Fentanyl Policy Working Group, a part of Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party which works to address China’s part in the production of illegal fentanyl coming into the United States.

Representative Johnson says China is directly fueling the nation’s fentanyl crisis by facilitating the export of fentanyl precursors to illicit manufacturers.

 “The experts that we talked to at our first hearing made it clear that the fentanyl crisis is much more evil, much darker than that,” said Johnson. “This is not an organic event. This is a planned and deliberate attack by the Chinese Communist Party. They are poisoning and killing Americans.”

Johnson says the Chinese Communist Party maintains tight controls on international shipping and is deliberately allowing the precursors to be shipped out illegally. He says the bipartisan group is working to strengthen trade policy and customs enforcement as well as impose sanctions on entities involved in the fentanyl trade.

“We need to make it clear to China that we know what they're doing. We know that they can stop these precursor chemicals and that they choose not to. If we had an administration that was fully engaged with our bipartisan efforts, we would be able to push back on China and get them to knock it off.”

According to Johnson, security at the southern border is also a major factor in the fentanyl crisis. He advocated for a return to a “remain in Mexico” border policy, adding the number of illegal crossings border agents respond to draws their attention away from ports of entry where most illegal fentanyl is smuggled into the country.

“Much of our blame needs to be placed on China. But Mexico can step up as well. We know that our ports of entry would be more secure, we know that our border would be more secure, if we had an even more engaged Mexico.”

Johnson criticized the Biden administration, saying they have failed to keep America’s southern neighbor engaged in solving the issue.