The Treasury Department has confirmed that Chinese networks are deeply involved in laundering cartel cash through the American banking system. The scale is staggering: banks flagged $312 billion in suspicious transactions between 2020 and 2024 linked to Chinese money laundering operations.

Those findings, reported by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), tie these networks not only to traditional banking channels but also to U.S. real estate, casinos, human trafficking, and even assisted living homes in New York. Investigators noted that Chinese students in the U.S. have also been enlisted to move illicit funds. Real estate accounted for 13% of the laundering, but most of it flowed through U.S. banks.

“Money laundering networks linked to individual passport holders from the People’s Republic of China enable cartels to poison Americans with fentanyl, conduct human trafficking, and wreak havoc among communities across our great nation,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley said.

The report highlights how Mexico’s stricter currency rules actually push cartels to use the United States instead. Mexican banks restrict dollar deposits, making it harder for cartels to move money south of the border. China’s own currency controls also play a role, limiting how much Chinese citizens can send abroad—forcing them to rely on elaborate laundering schemes in America.

That makes the U.S. a prime target. As anticorruption attorney Scott Greytak explained, “Even though they don’t like the rule of law, they certainly like their money being protected by it. So we just tend to attract a ton of dirty money.”

What makes this more dangerous is the sheer scale and organization. Hundreds or even thousands of Chinese nationals are likely involved in laundering transactions, raising questions about how much the Chinese Communist Party itself profits. Analysts warn this dirty cash could be fueling Beijing’s growing purchases of American farmland—including plots alarmingly close to U.S. military bases.

This is not simply criminal activity. It fits a larger pattern of China working with cartels while undermining America’s security. First, Beijing supplied fentanyl precursors to Mexican gangs. Now, Chinese operatives are washing cartel profits through U.S. institutions, exploiting our own financial system against us.

It’s a sobering reminder that China’s strategy isn’t limited to direct confrontation. By partnering with drug cartels, destabilizing communities, and buying influence, the CCP is advancing its goal of surpassing the United States without firing a shot. As the old warning goes, these moves are “war without rules.”

For conservatives, the lesson is clear: America must close loopholes, crack down on laundering, and stop Beijing’s influence before it erodes our sovereignty further. Cartels and communists working hand in hand should alarm every American family. President Trump has long called out China’s manipulations, and this report proves again he was right.

The fight for America’s future isn’t just on the battlefield—it’s in our banks, our neighborhoods, and our farmland. Shutting down China’s laundering networks is not optional. It’s a matter of national survival, and conservatives must keep pushing until Washington takes action.