Former acting DHS secretary warns Chinese criminal organizations are infiltrating America's hemp industry
Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf sent a letter to House lawmakers Tuesday urging them to investigate the "growing role that Chinese-linked actors and foreign criminal organizations are playing...
By Fox News · Fox News
Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf sent a letter to House lawmakers Tuesday urging them to investigate the "growing role that Chinese-linked actors and foreign criminal organizations are playing in the proliferation of hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products and illegal marijuana operations" in the U.S., which he says are "putting our youth and adults at risk." The message addressed to Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — the chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, respectively — states that "Beyond the serious public health implications, there is mounting evidence that this issue also presents a significant national security concern." "What began as a narrowly tailored effort to legalize industrial hemp and non-intoxicating cannabidiol (CBD) products has evolved into a dangerous and unregulated market for high-potency THC hemp products that are being sold across the country with little to no oversight," Wolf wrote. "These products are frequently marketed as gummies, candies, beverages and vapes, often packaged and promoted in ways that appeal to children. They lack acceptable age restrictions, labeling requirements and safety standards." Wolf cited a warning from the White House’s 2026 National Drug Control Strategy , which described how "the marijuana trade in the United States is no longer a scattered, low-level problem; it has been co-opted and industrialized by sophisticated, transnational criminal organizations, particularly those with ties to China." CHAD WOLF: CLOSE THE BACKDOOR DRUG PIPELINE THAT'S EMBOLDENING ENEMIES AND HARMING THE PUBLIC " These groups systematically exploit states where marijuana has been legalized under state law, leveraging these markets and lax regulations to establish massive, unlicensed cultivation operations. A stark illustration of this is Oklahoma , where law enforcement estimates that Chinese criminal groups run more than 80% of…