The near release of a self-admitted Mexican cartel sicario—who illegally re-entered Canada in February—underscores Canada’s vulnerability to Chinese-led fentanyl trafficking networks.

By Sam Cooper | The Bureau

A senior U.S. government expert has warned that Canada’s economy and communities are increasingly exposed to Chinese-led fentanyl trafficking networks linked to the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party.

Speaking exclusively to The Bureau, the unnamed source, an expert with oversight of thousands of high-level transnational crime investigations, predicts that as U.S. and Mexican authorities tighten control over southern trafficking routes, Mexican cartels will shift their operations northward into Canada, exploiting its enforcement blind spots.

This shift is evidenced by the case of a Mexican cartel hitman who was nearly released into Canada despite a history of cartel involvement and violence, highlighting severe strains on Canada’s immigration, border, and detention systems.

Read in full at the publisher’s website here.