Business
U.S. Seizes Fentanyl Shipment From Canada In Seattle, As Washington Pressures Ottawa on Crime Networks
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have intercepted a shipment containing more than one pound of fentanyl from Canada, marking the latest sign of an accelerating crisis along the BC-Washington border. The fentanyl, concealed within a package believed to have originated in British Columbia, was discovered during a targeted enforcement operation at a Seattle shipping facility on February 6.
The package contained a brown, rock-like substance wrapped in plastic bags. Subsequent testing confirmed it was fentanyl, the synthetic opioid driving tens of thousands of overdose deaths in North America each year.
Area Port Director Rene Ortega, speaking about the seizure, underscored its broader implications. “Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous synthetic drug that continues to devastate communities across the United States,” Ortega said. “CBP remains committed to using every available tool to stop these lethal substances before they reach our streets.”
The latest seizure is part of an escalating pattern that has prompted increasingly aggressive responses from Washington. President Donald Trump has warned of sweeping tariffs in the coming weeks unless Ottawa delivers a credible, actionable plan to crack down on transnational crime networks driving fentanyl production. These networks—operating primarily out of British Columbia—are deeply entrenched with organized crime groups from China and Mexico.
The Bureau has reported extensively on Washington’s mounting frustration with Canada’s handling of the fentanyl crisis. BC Mayor Brad West, who has been in direct communication with senior U.S. officials, has described an urgent shift in tone from American law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In a high-level 2023 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, West was briefed on just how seriously Washington views Canada’s role in the illicit drug trade.
“This is no longer just a Canadian domestic issue,” West told The Bureau. “Secretary Blinken made it clear that the Biden administration sees fentanyl as an existential threat. They’re building a global coalition and need Canada fully on board. If we don’t show real progress, the U.S. will protect itself by any means—tariffs or otherwise.”
Concerns extend beyond law enforcement. According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence assessments, American agencies have begun withholding key evidence from their Canadian counterparts, citing a lack of confidence that Ottawa will act on it. West confirmed that in his ongoing discussions with senior U.S. officials, they have voiced alarm over the level of access major figures in Asian organized crime appear to have within Canada’s political class.
“They’re basically asking, ‘What’s going on in Canada?’” West said.
The frustration is not new. For years, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies have sought to curb the transnational reach of organizations like Sam Gor, the powerful Asian organized crime syndicate that dominates much of the fentanyl precursor supply chain. But Canada’s response has been widely seen as inadequate. Critics argue that political sensitivities and reluctance to confront entrenched criminal networks have left Canadian law enforcement hamstrung.
The question now is whether Ottawa will take decisive action. Bringing forward measures as sweeping as a RICO-style anti-mafia statute or invoking the notwithstanding clause to bypass legal obstacles to tougher enforcement would represent a sharp departure from the status quo. Both approaches would require confronting entrenched political, legal and economic interests, as well as explaining why existing laws have failed to secure convictions against the most powerful actors in organized crime.
West believes the shifting geopolitical landscape may force Ottawa’s hand. Washington’s patience, he warns, ran thin years ago—and the U.S. is now signaling it will no longer wait.
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Quick Hit:
Elon Musk revealed on X that millions of individuals in the Social Security database are recorded as over 100 years old, with no death record attached. The billionaire suggested the findings could indicate massive fraud within the system.
According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!
Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ltb06VX98Z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025
Key Details:
- Musk shared a chart showing over 20 million people in the database listed as 100+ years old, including 3.9 million between 130-139, 3.5 million between 140-149, and 1.3 million between 150-159.
- The 2020 U.S. Census recorded just over 80,000 people aged 100 or older, casting doubt on the accuracy of the Social Security data.
- Musk suggested that the Social Security system is riddled with inconsistencies and could be facilitating large-scale fraud.
Diving Deeper:
On Sunday, Elon Musk took to X with a shocking revelation about the Social Security database, suggesting it contains massive inaccuracies—possibly enabling widespread fraud. Musk pointed out that millions of individuals are recorded as being 100 years or older, yet their death status remains unmarked.
“According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk quipped, sharing a chart showing over 20 million centenarians in the system.
The data he highlighted included staggering figures: more than 3.9 million individuals listed as 130-139 years old, 3.5 million aged 140-149, and over 1.3 million aged 150-159. These numbers are vastly out of sync with U.S. Census data, which recorded just over 80,000 people aged 100 or older in 2020.
Musk didn’t stop there. He went on to criticize the complexity and lack of oversight in Social Security operations, calling the system’s logic “INSANE.” According to Musk, “No one person actually knows how it works. The payment files that move between Social Security and Treasury have significant inconsistencies that are not reconciled. It’s wild.”
Perhaps the most damning accusation Musk made was in a follow-up post where he warned that the Social Security system might be one of the largest fraud schemes in history. “There are FAR more ‘eligible’ Social Security numbers than there are citizens in the USA. This might be the biggest fraud in history,” he posted.
MxM News
Quick Hit:
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), established under President Donald Trump, has discovered that nearly $4.7 trillion in U.S. Treasury payments were processed with an optional, often blank identification code—making them nearly impossible to track. The revelation has prompted immediate changes to federal financial reporting, mandating full transparency on these transactions moving forward.
Key Details:
- DOGE found that the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS), a key financial identifier, was frequently left blank in transactions totaling $4.7 trillion.
- The Trump administration’s watchdog agency worked with the U.S. Treasury to close this loophole, making the TAS field mandatory for all federal payments.
- DOGE continues to uncover and eliminate government waste, already reporting an estimated $55 billion in taxpayer savings through spending cuts and contract renegotiations.
Diving Deeper:
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Elon Musk under President Donald Trump’s administration, has made a bombshell discovery regarding federal spending. According to the agency, $4.7 trillion in payments were funneled through the U.S. Treasury without clear tracking due to an often-missing Treasury Access Symbol (TAS). This identifier, which links government expenditures to specific budget items, was optional in the federal system—resulting in payments that were nearly impossible to trace.
DOGE announced the finding on X, explaining that the TAS field has now been made mandatory for all federal payments. “As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going,” the agency stated. This change is expected to bring a new level of transparency to federal finances, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are properly accounted for.
The revelation coincides with DOGE’s broader mission to root out wasteful government spending. Since its creation via executive order, the agency has reported $55 billion in estimated savings, achieved through fraud detection, renegotiations of contracts, and regulatory cuts. The agency is also working to make its cost-cutting measures fully transparent, committing to updating its financial data twice per week with the goal of transitioning to real-time reporting.
Musk’s leadership at DOGE has sparked both praise and controversy. While conservatives applaud the agency’s aggressive stance on reducing bloated government programs, critics—particularly among Democrats—have raised concerns over its authority to access federal data and cancel government contracts. Attorneys general from 14 states have filed a lawsuit aiming to block DOGE from federal systems, arguing that its executive authority over financial oversight is an overreach.
Despite legal challenges, DOGE recently won a key court battle, with a federal judge in Washington declining to temporarily block its access to sensitive data from several agencies, including the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. This ruling is seen as a green light for the Trump administration’s cost-cutting mission to continue.
With the U.S. national debt at record highs, DOGE’s latest discovery raises serious questions about past government financial management. The $4.7 trillion in untraceable payments underscores why the agency was created in the first place—and why Washington’s establishment has resisted its oversight.
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