Next month, FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to travel to China as part of the agency’s intensified efforts to target international suppliers of chemicals linked to fentanyl, according to several informed sources.

Both Patel and President Trump have prioritized tackling the production of precursor chemicals abroad and disrupting associated financial channels as key elements of their administration’s drug policy. They have criticized China for contributing to America’s addiction epidemic.

The FBI has yet to provide a comment on Patel’s upcoming visit, and details regarding his agenda or the officials he will meet remain undisclosed.

President Trump has announced his intention to address the issue of illegal drugs during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.

“The first thing on my agenda is fentanyl,” Trump declared during a White House State Dining Room event focused on highlighting measures against drug cartels. “It’s my top priority.”

Mr. Trump said at the event that the administration has so far seized 150,000 pounds of narcotics. 

“Those aren’t numbers — those are lives, lives saved by the millions. The millions. Enough fentanyl to kill over 200 million Americans gone, evaporated off our streets, permanently,” Patel said at the White House event.

The CDC estimates that there were 48,422 deaths tied to fentanyl in 2024, down from 76,282 the year before. The provisional estimates are based on state death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Mr. Trump announced days after taking office that he intended to impose duties on China for “failing to stem” the flow of drugs to the United States and “by actively sustaining and expanding the business of poisoning our citizens.”

The Justice Department has made that effort a focal point. On Sept. 3, Patel revealed an indictment he called “first-of-its-kind,” charging Chinese companies and individuals that allegedly manufacture precursor chemicals needed for fentanyl production.

“This operation has already seized enough fentanyl powder to kill 70 million Americans and enough fentanyl pills to kill another 270,000,” Patel said. “And we have now indicted the Chinese precursor companies and exposed the funding streams that facilitate this deadly trade.”

During Senate testimony on Sept. 16, Patel added that the agency has also seized cryptocurrency wallets tied to mainland Chinese businesses and enterprises suspected of involvement in fentanyl production.