Schweizer: Chinese Chemists Working With Mexican Cartels Creating Fentanyl To Kill Americans

New York Times bestselling author Peter Schweizer is once again speaking out against China’s sinister role in fueling America’s deadly fentanyl crisis, as President Donald Trump seeks to punish the communist regime for its involvement.

“There are 2000 Chinese nationals in northern Mexico working for the Sinaloa drug cartel,” Schweizer, citing DEA data, told The Cats and Cosby Show on Friday. “They’re basically chemists.“

“They take the precursor chemicals that, of course, arrive from China and they turn it into the deadly cocktail, which is what people are dying from. They produce pills. People who die of fentanyl overdose, they think they’re talking a Vicodin or Adderall,” he added.

Although fentanyl-related deaths in the U.S. are declining, the crisis remains a grim reality. According to the CDC, a staggering 76,226 Americans died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids—primarily fentanyl—in 2022, delivering a gut-punch to communities nationwide. Provisional data from 2023 shows a slight decline, with 74,702 deaths linked to these powerful substances. Even more striking, the latest CDC and DEA figures estimate approximately 55,126 deaths from synthetic opioids in the 12 months ending September 2024—a significant and hopeful drop, but still a sobering reminder of fentanyl’s ongoing toll.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed the finger at China as a key culprit in America’s fentanyl crisis, accusing Beijing of fueling the epidemic by allowing precursor chemicals to flow to Mexican cartels. In a February 2025 White House statement, Trump accused China of subsidizing companies to export fentanyl-related chemicals, describing the crisis as a “national emergency” killing “approximately two hundred Americans per day.” He’s tied this to his trade agenda, imposing a 20% tariff on Chinese imports—on top of a 10% base tariff—explicitly to pressure Beijing on fentanyl. On April 24, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Fentanyl continues to pour into our Country from China, through Mexico and Canada, killing hundreds of thousands of our people, and it better stop, NOW!”

China has consistently denied accusations that it is a primary driver of the U.S. fentanyl crisis. Chinese officials argue that the crisis is a U.S. domestic issue rooted in demand, not their supply of precursor chemicals. In March 2025, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated the root cause of the fentanyl issue lies in the United States itself. Lin also criticized the U.S. for imposing tariffs under the pretext of the fentanyl issue, calling such actions unjustified and counterproductive.