Crime
After Trump threatens Mexico, authorities make largest fentanyl bust in history
From The Center Square
By
Mexican authorities seized the largest amount of fentanyl in history in the state of Sinaloa, 1,100 kilograms. With two milligrams considered a lethal dose, and 22,696.2 lethal doses in a pound, they seized more than 453 million lethal doses, enough to kill roughly the entire population of the U.S. and Mexico.
After President-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose tariffs on Mexico and spoke to Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, demanding that Mexico stop facilitating illegal entry into the U.S., Mexican authorities have made major drug and cartel busts.
Sheinbaum claimed they’d been working on the operation for a while, but some members of the Mexico media give the credit to Trump and have accused Sheinbaum of taking cartel bribes.
In several posts on X, Sheinbaum’s Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection, Omar García Harfuch, issued statements saying Mexican authorities seized the largest amount of fentanyl in history in the state of Sinaloa, 1,100 kilograms. With two milligrams considered a lethal dose, and 22,696.2 lethal doses in a pound, they seized more than 453 million lethal doses, enough to kill roughly the entire population of the U.S. and Mexico.
They also seized firearms and made arrests in Sinaloa, the namesake of the deadly transnational criminal organization, whose operations are based there, the Sinaloa Cartel.
“These actions will continue until the violence in the state of Sinaloa decreases,” Harfuch said.
On Thursday, he announced more arrests, saying, “Following up on the investigation into the seizure of more than a ton of fentanyl pills and with operational actions to reduce crime rates in Sinaloa, personnel from the Security Cabinet arrested Adrián ‘N’ ‘El Gallero,’ a member of a criminal group that operates in Sinaloa and is related to the drugs seized two days ago. Investigations in the state continue.”
As part of the operation, five foreign nationals were arrested on sexual exploitation charges, allegedly part of “a group dedicated to drug dealing and human trafficking” operating in Mexico and “linked to two femicides that occurred in June in Tlalpan and to regrettable acts of violence against women,” he said.
Mexican agencies conducted the busts in different parts of the capital and in other countries, he said. They include the Secretariat of Citizen Security of Mexico City, Mexico City Attorney General, Mexico City Mayor, Mexican Secretary of Defense, Mexican Navy, Mexican Attorney General, Mexican National Guard and Harfuch’s office.
After Harfuch announced the fentanyl bust, Sheinbaum held a press conference saying the investigation had “been going on for a long time, and yesterday, it gave these results.”
On Friday, Harfuch announced additional arrests were made by Mexican security forces.
“In recent days, the leader of a group that generates violence operating in Culiacán was arrested,” he said. Five men were arrested, including Horacio “N” an operator and brother of Omar “N,” he said. They also seized three long weapons and drugs and “continue to implement actions to reduce the rates of violence in the region.”
Omar “N” was arrested last month, two weeks after Trump won the election. He was wanted for “several violent actions in our country, such as homicides, arms trafficking, human trafficking and fentanyl trafficking to Arizona, United States,” Harfuch said.
Mexican reporters and pundits have raised questions about the arrests and Mexican leaders, suggesting the reason the arrests were made was because Trump was elected and Mexican leaders are on cartel payrolls.
One pundit said it wasn’t the National Palace policies but “the Trump Tsunami” behind the arrests. Ever “since he won the US presidency … Omar García Harfuch has been very busy with HISTORIC arrests and seizures of Fentanyl, never seen in the López Obrador government.”
Last month, after the U.S. Treasury Department published photos of alleged cartel members wanted and sanctioned for trafficking fentanyl, cocaine and heroin, LatinUS reporter Carlos Loret de Mola asked if Sheinbaum’s administration was “protecting them or do the Secretary of Security, the Sedena and the Navy not have the information?”
Another reporter, Anabel Hernandez, claims Mexico’s former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Sheinbaum received money from the cartels. Obrador implemented a “hugs not bullets” policy with the cartels as violence escalated under his administration. Sheinbaum was elected during one of the bloodiest elections in Mexican history with 30 candidates believed to have been assassinated by the cartels, The Center Square reported.
Hernandez said at a recent conference that she “had access to a document called, ‘Operation Polanco’ and began a journey to understand if what the United States government was saying was real or not,” La Octava reported. What she found, she says, is “that not only did Andrés Manuel López Obrador receive money from the Sinaloa Cartel in the 2006 campaign but also in the 2012 campaign.”
Hernandez says she has evidence and Sheinbaum can’t go after the Sinaloa Cartel “because she is also part of this criminal system and received money in her presidential campaign from the same two factions” warring over Sinaloa territory, the Zambadas and Chapo Guzman. “There is specific evidence, there is the testimony of the Zambada King, Jesús Zambada García, the brother of Mayo Zambada,” she said.
Obrador and Sheinbaum have denied the claims.
LatinUS has published reports alleging Sheinbaum is “acting as a real estate cartel.” Sheinbaum accuses her political rivals of the same.
Sam Cooper
A new high-profile British Columbia money laundering case targets an alleged Sinaloa Cartel–linked fentanyl and cocaine trafficking cell established in a mansion near the U.S. border. Court filings say the group was capable of negotiating significant cocaine importation deals with Ismael Garcia—known as “El Mayo”—the reputed Sinaloa Cartel chief.
According to the filings, the Canada-based syndicate comprised at least three men, including Hector Chavez-Anchondo. The lawsuit, filed yesterday by the Director of Civil Forfeiture, contends that they belonged to a violent drug trafficking organization that “used and continues to use violence, or threats of violence, to achieve its aims.”
Investigators allege that the Sinaloa Cartel-linked gang trafficked a range of controlled substances, including ketamine, methamphetamine, Xanax, oxycodone, MDMA, and fentanyl.
“As part of these efforts, the drug trafficking organization has agreed to, and made arrangements to, purchase cocaine from the Cártel de Sinaloa in Mexico,” the filings say. They add that “the Sinaloa Cartel is a terrorist entity, and the government of Canada listed it as such on February 20, 2025.”
Though no criminal convictions have been reported in connection with this lawsuit—first covered by the Vancouver Sun—Canada’s designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a terrorist organization could have significant ramifications for high-level discussions between the Trump Administration and Ottawa. Washington has intensified pressure on Canada over alleged failures to curb fentanyl trafficking networks, with the dispute escalating into sweeping tariffs amid a mounting trade war.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, members of the Surrey-based fentanyl and cocaine trafficking network had the clout to negotiate cocaine supply terms directly with García until his arrest by U.S. law enforcement on July 25, 2024. Court filings state that his capture “disrupted the DTO’s efforts to import and distribute cocaine in Canada,” forcing the group to pivot and initiate “negotiations with other parties, known only to the DTO members.”
RCMP investigators say they uncovered a substantial cache of weapons and narcotics during a search of a Surrey property on 77th Avenue on September 23, 2024. The multi-million-dollar mansion is located about 20 minutes from the Peace Arch border crossing in Washington State, north of Seattle.
Court submissions detail the following seized items:
- Firearms: Twenty-three weapons, including ten handguns, two sawed-off shotguns, two hunting rifles, seven assault rifles (two reportedly equipped with screw-on sound suppressors), and a speargun.
- Drugs: Approximately 3.5 kilograms of ketamine and methamphetamine concealed in a hidden compartment in one suspect’s room, hundreds of counterfeit alprazolam pills, and a hidden stash of oxycodone pills.
- Currency: Nearly CAD 15,000 in cash, bundled “not consistent with standard banking practices.”
Authorities also confiscated numerous luxury assets, asserting these represented either instruments or proceeds of unlawful activity. In a filing submitted today, a lawyer for the Director of Asset Seizure wrote:
“There is a triable question as to whether the Vehicles, the Motorcycles, the Azure Boat, the Trailer, the Money, the Jewellery, and other Valuables and Electronic Devices are either instruments or proceeds of unlawful activity. Drug trafficking is a cash business. Persons involved in illegal drug activity frequently carry large sums of cash, either to purchase drugs or as proceeds from drug sales. Currency itself can be an instrument of unlawful activity, facilitating further drug transactions.”
Seized vehicles included a 2006 GMC Sierra, a 2002 Ford F350, a 2006 Land Rover, a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport, a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T, and a restored 1950 vintage Ford. Investigators also confiscated upscale motorcycles, such as a 2012 Harley Davidson and custom bikes featuring elaborate flame motifs. An Azure AZ238 boat, along with its Shoreland’r trailer, was taken as well.
more to come
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Crime
Chinese Narco Suspect Caught in Private Meeting with Trudeau, Investigated by DEA, Linked to Panama, Caribbean, Mexico – Police Sources
Sam Cooper
Shocking new details are emerging about a major Chinese organized crime suspect who met privately with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a police source who confirmed recent reporting from The Globe and Mail. The individual, Paul King Jin, is allegedly implicated in money laundering operations spanning the Western Hemisphere and has been a target of multiple failed major investigations in British Columbia. These investigations sought to unravel the complex interrelations of underground casinos and real estate investment, fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking, and financial crimes that allegedly funnel drug proceeds from diaspora community underground banks throughout North America and Latin America, with connections to Chinese and Hong Kong financial institutions.
The failed investigations into Jin have involved both the RCMP and U.S. agencies. These operations stretch from Vancouver to Mexico, Panama, and beyond, multiple sources confirm.
Repeated efforts to reach Jin for comment through his lawyer in the British Columbia Cullen Commission, which stemmed from investigative journalism exposing BC casino money laundering, have not been successful. Recent BC civil forfeiture filings seeking to seize alleged money laundering proceeds from Jin, with cases connecting 14 Vancouver homes to entities in Hong Kong and China, also indicate Jin has not been responsive through a lawyer.
Highlighting longstanding U.S. government concerns over the B.C. investigations and suspects like Jin, Mayor Brad West confirmed in exclusive interviews with The Bureau that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed dismay over Canada’s failure to successfully prosecute Jin and Chinese crime networks, specifically citing the collapse of the E-Pirate investigation. Reportedly Canada’s largest-ever probe into money laundering, E-Pirate fell apart in court after cooperating witnesses were exposed. One of the Chinese Triad narcotics traffickers targeted in E-Pirate surveillance, Richard Yen Fat Chiu, was found stabbed and burned to death near the Venezuelan border on June 20, 2019, according to Colombian news reports.
The Bureau has verified with a source possessing direct knowledge of Canadian policing failures that crucial intelligence regarding Sam Gor—a massive transnational crime syndicate—was provided to the RCMP by U.S. agencies yet failed to result in prosecutions.
One primary source confirmed a new detail reported by The Globe and Mail: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was entangled in an RCMP surveillance operation that targeted Paul Jin and the Sam Gor networks in Richmond, British Columbia. The Globe reported that early in his tenure, Trudeau met with Jin at a closed-door gathering at the Executive Inn Express Richmond, near Vancouver International Airport. Three sources corroborated the meeting according to The Globe, which took place between late 2015 and early 2017. Also present at the meeting was a Chinese army veteran with close ties to Beijing. The Globe noted that the veteran had attended social events with Chinese diplomats, reinforcing concerns about political and security risks posed by these associations.
The Bureau’s police source, who is independent of The Globe’s sources, confirmed they were aware of the RCMP surveillance operation that placed Trudeau, Jin, and the Chinese army veteran together in a private meeting.
Meanwhile, Jin himself has been surveilled in meetings with Chinese police officers who have traveled to Richmond, according to a separate police source with extensive knowledge of Chinese organized crime and influence operations in Canada. Two sources further stated that Jin continues to operate underground casino networks in Richmond, where law enforcement intelligence believes he has erected a mansion using front owners. Membership at this establishment is reportedly set at $100,000 for high-rollers.
According to a criminal intelligence source, Jin has alleged ties to China’s Ministry of Public Security and the network of clandestine Chinese police stations in British Columbia investigated by the RCMP. Two sources confirmed that Jin has allegedly acquired a new luxury mansion in Richmond, registered under a nominee—an established organized crime tactic.
“Jin uses one of his flunkies as a nominee for it. Common practice,” the source said. They further alleged that one of Jin’s associates tied to the mansion was implicated with Jin in a significant 2009 methamphetamine investigation. “Again, the use of nominees for real estate and businesses. Organized crime 101.”
Jin’s activities extend well beyond Canada, two sources alleged.
“He’s spending a lot of time in Latin America and the Caribbean,” a source said. “Asian organized crime is running amok. Foreign actor interference is getting really established. How it works is the current government welcoming any contributions from the motherland. What does this have to do with Asian organized crime in Canada? There’s a trade connection now from those areas in Latin America and the Caribbean to Canadian Asian organized crime commodity trades, primarily via the Maritimes.”
Jin has also been linked to international criminal networks, with two sources indicating that he and other high-level Canadian Triad associates have been traveling extensively to Panama and other Latin American jurisdictions. These movements align with intelligence connecting Canadian Triads to Mexican cartel operatives, facilitating narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and commodity smuggling into the United States.
Panama, which Trump administration State Secretary Marco Rubio has flagged as a hub of Chinese crime and state influence, has emerged as a focal point for Jin’s operations. “Jin was spending an awful lot more time down in Panama, where we think he is putting a lot of his capital there,” a source familiar with North American law enforcement investigations said. “They have the same kind of problem going on in Panama City as Vancouver, with all of the condo towers, and they’re empty. So people are plowing money into that place too.”
Adding to the concerns, a source disclosed that Jin’s travels to Panama raised red flags within international law enforcement circles. Jin flew from Vancouver to Toronto, then to Mexico City, Colombia, and finally Panama. Upon arrival, Panamanian customs flagged discrepancies in his travel documents, detecting an alternate identity. He was deemed inadmissible and promptly deported along the same route back to Canada.
“They said, ‘No, you’re inadmissible. Something’s wrong here. You’re traveling under this name, but we have you here as another person.’ So Panama punted him and sent him back exactly the same route, and we caught wind of this because of the liaison office down in Bogota,” the source, who could not be identified due to sensitivities in Canada, said. “And they let us know, and locally, the CBSA guys let the Toronto guys know because that’s where he would clear Canada Customs coming back. So they were like, ‘Okay, this is worthy of an interview.’ And they put a flag in the system and everything else.
“To make a long story short, it all fell flat. Nobody interviewed him. He just came right back—came right back to his place here in Vancouver. And so it just shows you the brokenness of our own system, that we can’t even get a key guy like that consistently checked and stopped, and he’s traveling under false papers.”
Jin’s expanding influence in Panama is a significant development aligning with Trump administration concerns, the source said, underscoring broader fears about China’s growing criminal and political footprint in the Western Hemisphere.
The Bureau previously reported that the latest BC civil forfeiture case—the fourth against Jin in three years—suggests he is actively evading British Columbia court procedures. Court filings state that after being banned from British Columbia casinos, Paul King Jin shifted his operations to illegal gaming houses, generating over $32 million in just four months in 2015. These underground casinos became a crucial node in a cash-based network fueling the proliferation of synthetic drugs across North America.
The case intensified in November 2022 when Everwell Knight Limited, a Hong Kong-registered entity holding mortgages on 14 disputed properties linked to Jin, sought to dismiss the government’s forfeiture claim on procedural grounds. Everwell’s legal team invoked the Canadian Charter of Rights—an increasingly common legal strategy in Canadian money laundering cases—arguing that the Director of Civil Forfeiture had failed to meet procedural requirements.
In April 2023, the Director of Civil Forfeiture responded with a default judgment application, contending that Jin’s failure to file a defense effectively conceded key allegations. The case also underscored Jin’s pattern of evasion, with the Director’s counsel noting that an unnamed lawyer initially suggested they might represent Jin but then ceased communication, leaving his legal status unresolved.
Regarding another key Sam Gor associate, E-Pirate target Richard Chiu—the Vancouver-area drug kingpin found burned and stabbed in 2019 near Cúcuta, a city close to the Colombian border with Venezuela—Chiu had previously been convicted in Massachusetts in 2002 for conspiracy to distribute and possess heroin.
According to B.C. Supreme Court documents, Chiu was the subject of multiple Vancouver police drug investigations. In 2017, during one such probe, authorities surveilled an Audi Q7 leased to him. Civil forfeiture filings state that police observed Chiu’s wife, Kimberly Chiu, exiting the vehicle while a “known gang associate” placed a heavy bag into the trunk.
Kimberly Chiu later became the subject of a civil forfeiture case after police seized $317,000 from the Audi—most of it packed in vacuum-sealed bundles inside a duffel bag. However, unlike other suspects, Richard Chiu was never criminally charged in Canada or directly sued by the director of civil forfeiture.
The government’s statement of claim alleged that Kimberly Chiu was “acting as a courier for Asian organized crime,” a claim she denied. In her defense, she argued that Vancouver police had no lawful grounds to detain or search her.
The collapse of E-Pirate and related Canadian law enforcement failures prompted then-B.C. Attorney General David Eby to launch a review, but it led to no legal reforms or policy changes in the province.
Chinese Narco Suspect Caught in Private Meeting with Trudeau, Investigated by DEA, Linked to Panama, Caribbean, Mexico – Police Sources
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