Chinese Narcos In Toronto Run “Command & Control” Fentanyl Laundering Network Used In TD Bank Case: US Investigator

Toronto-Dominion Bank’s shockingly lax anti-money laundering (AML) program could be just the tip of the iceberg in the US government’s investigation into a Chinese Communist Party-run North American money laundering network that launders billions of dollars in fentanyl cash through a “command and control” structure based in Toronto. This revelation comes as more than 100,000 Americans and Canadians perish each year in horrific overdose deaths from fentanyl poisoning in what some call ‘reverse opium wars’ by China. 

This week, Sam Cooper, an investigative journalist behind the Substack “The Bureau,” published an interview with David Asher, a former senior investigator for the State Department. Asher explained the Chinese command and control center for North American drug money laundering is controlled by Chinese Triad leaders like Tse Chi Lop, who are working with the CCP to facilitate global money laundering and drug trafficking operations that involve Mexican cartels flooding the US with illicit drugs.

Big Circle Gang leader Tse Chi Lop, a PRC immigrant from Guangdong who is a Canadian citizen, directed global drug trafficking and money laundering operations in North America from his base of Markham, Ont., US investigators say. Source: The Bureau

Asher said this is all part of the CCP’s strategy of weaponizing drug cartels against Western countries.

He noted. “TD is really the tip of a deep iceberg, is how I’d put it on the record. What do TD Bank’s leadership in Canada know about what was going on in the US?”

He added, “And then the question is, this is the US. So what the hell is going on with TD Bank in Canada? We don’t know.” 

“So the Chinese government is underwriting the reverse opium war, and we know that definitively,” Asher explained.

Given TD failed to effectively monitor, detect, and report suspicious activities of Chinese fentanyl laundering networks, Asher pointed out, “And most of what we’re seeing is coming from this TD Bank case, and there’s a lot more. We’ll see which one of the big four US banks gets named next.” 

Here are the highlights from Cooper’s discussion with Asher:

Chinese State-Triad Nexus: David Asher claims that Chinese Triads like the 14K and Sun Yee On have been co-opted by the Chinese Communist Party to facilitate global money laundering and drug trafficking.

Toronto Command Center: US investigations indicate that key command-and-control operations for North American money laundering are based in Toronto and other Canadian cities.

Chinese International Students Used as Mules: Tasked within Beijing’s foreign influence arm, the United Front Work Department, Chinese students are systematically used to deposit fentanyl cash for Triads and Mexican cartels into North American banks, Asher said.

TD Bank Under Fire: TD Bank’s alleged involvement in laundering fentanyl-related funds has triggered regulatory and criminal investigations that could cost TD more than $4 billion, but Asher suggests this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Major US Banks: Investigators believe financial institutions have been allowing internationals “from China on student visas to drop billions of dollars a month into all of the biggest banks in the US,” Asher said.

Canada’s Inaction: Asher criticizes the Canadian government for inadequate cooperation in the Tse Chi Lop and broader fentanyl-trafficking and Triad money laundering investigations and suggests possible political and financial influences are hampering effective law enforcement.

Fentanyl Crisis Link: The failure to disrupt these networks is contributing to the ongoing fentanyl crisis, which claims tens of thousands of lives annually in the US and Canada.

Beijing Subsidizing Meth Trafficking: Asher disclosed that US Congressional investigators allege the People’s Republic is not only incentivizing fentanyl precursor exports but also methamphetamine sales.

Call for Action: Asher, currently a Senior Fellow with the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, calls for stronger international cooperation and more aggressive action to dismantle these sophisticated transnational criminal networks.

Recall in mid-April, the House Select Committee revealed the CCP used tax rebates to subsidize the manufacturing and exporting of fentanyl chemicals to Mexican cartels manufacturing illicit fentanyl drugs. Then, Chinese organized criminals in the US laundered the proceeds. Essentially, it’s an end-to-end Chinese Communist scheme. 

Cooper noted on X that the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada “has total visibility on massive fentanyl laundering into Canada’s big banks, but I believe Justin Trudeau and his office/Cabinet would have to make this a priority RCMP enforcement concern, or nothing happens.” 

If you missed this exclusive from The Bureau, the chart shows @FINTRAC_Canada has total visibility on massive fentanyl laundering into Canada’s big banks, but I believe Justin Trudeau and his office/Cabinet would have to make this a priority RCMP enforcement concern or nothing… pic.twitter.com/ZoBQfhhwCa

— Sam Cooper (@scoopercooper) August 30, 2024

Copper told ZeroHedge his reporting in Vancouver uncovered how the Triads first used Chinese students to carry bags of drug cash into casinos, and the casinos washed these funds from fentanyl into luxury condos and mansions, driving Canada’s housing affordability crisis, along with fentanyl deaths. But when Covid shuttered Canadian casinos, the Triads just evolved, getting students to open bank accounts and carry bundles of fentanyl cash straight into bank deposits, across North America.

The full explosive interview regarding US government investigations into the CCP’s command and control money laundering network in North America can be viewed at The Bureau.