Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is urging Congress to confront what he describes as a rapidly expanding threat posed by Chinese-linked actors and foreign criminal organizations driving the spread of hemp-derived THC products and illegal marijuana operations across the United States, warning that these activities are "putting our youth and adults at risk.
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In a letter to Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Wolf pressed the leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party to launch a formal inquiry into the nexus between Beijing-linked networks and Americas burgeoning illicit cannabis trade. According to Fox News, the former Trump administration official cautioned that "Beyond the serious public health implications, there is mounting evidence that this issue also presents a significant national security concern."
Wolf argued that a policy initiative originally sold to the public as a limited reform has spiraled far beyond its stated purpose. "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.
He emphasized that these products are being pushed in forms and packaging that appear designed to lure minors into drug use. "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."
To underscore the gravity of the problem, Wolf pointed to the White Houses own 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, which warns that the marijuana trade has been transformed by sophisticated criminal syndicates. The strategy document states that "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."
The same federal strategy highlights how these organizations are exploiting permissive state-level marijuana regimes to build sprawling black-market operations. "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 the state's thousands of marijuana and hemp farms," the National Drug Control Strategy document says.
Federal officials further warn that these are not benign agricultural ventures but nodes in a broader criminal web. "These operations are not just agricultural; they are hubs of poly-crime involving human trafficking of exploited laborers, sophisticated money laundering, and the use of dangerous, unregistered pesticides that threaten public health and the environment," it adds.
Wolf linked this emerging THC hemp threat to a broader pattern of malign activity tied to Chinas role in the global narcotics trade. He noted that China "has been linked to the export of fentanyl, synthetic narcotics and illicit supply chain materials that have devastated American communities" and cautioned that "the intoxicating THC hemp market now risks becoming another avenue through which Chinese-linked actors exploit regulatory loopholes and weak enforcement mechanisms to profit at the expense of the health and safety of the American people."
The former DHS chief reminded lawmakers that Republicans and Democrats had already come together under President Donald Trump to tighten federal hemp rules in response to these dangers. "Congress acted last year, with bipartisan support and President Trumps signature, to close loopholes involving intoxicating THC hemp products and restore the original intent of federal hemp legislation," he said in the letter.
Wolf warned, however, that this progress is now under threat from efforts to dilute or delay the new safeguards before they are fully implemented. "However, efforts are now underway to weaken, delay or roll back those protections before they fully take effect. This would not only undermine public health and law enforcement objectives, but could further embolden foreign criminal actors seeking to exploit the American marketplace and harm American families."
Calling for a robust response rather than further deregulation, Wolf urged the committee to use its investigative powers to expose the full extent of foreign involvement in the drug supply chain. He asked the panel to "investigate Chinas involvement in the intoxicating THC hemp supply chain, including financing, chemical manufacturing, illegal cultivation operations, money laundering activity and ties to the array of criminal organizations operating within the United States."
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