Overview of the Ellis Testimony
On January 21, 2026, the United States Congress received sworn testimony from R. Evan Ellis, Professor at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute. Professor Ellis is a recognized expert on China and transnational organized crime.
Professor Ellis testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources regarding the operational footprint of Chinese organized crime across Latin America and the Caribbean. His testimony named specific criminal organizations, detailed their methods, and identified direct threat vectors impacting the United States.
This was not academic speculation. It was a strategic and operational warning.
As a former Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent who spent years dismantling transnational criminal organizations, I can state plainly: the testimony was accurate and comprehensive, outlining the specific threats China poses to Western civilization.
Professor Ellis opened his testimony with a statement regarding gangs and organized crime:
“Criminal activity by Chinese gangs in Latin America and the Caribbean is a serious and expanding problem for its institutions and prosperity. These activities also threaten the region’s resources and environmental health.”
Ellis explicitly identified major Chinese criminal organizations operating throughout the hemisphere:
“Some of the most significant and best-known Chinese criminal groups active in the region include the 14K and Sun Yee On Triads, the Fujian Mafia, as well as the Flying Dragons, Tai Chen, and Fuk Ching.”
These groups are well-known Chinese criminal enterprises, trafficking chemicals, narcotics, humans, and laundered currency. He emphasized that these groups do not operate independently:
“The power of these groups and the damage caused by their activities are magnified by their interactions with other criminal entities in the region.”
Fentanyl Precursor Supply Chains
Ellis directly connected PRC-based chemical suppliers to the fentanyl crisis impacting the United States:
“The supply of precursor chemicals for synthetic drugs by PRC-based groups contributes to a multibillion-dollar illicit industry that kills tens of thousands of Americans per year.”
Each year, thousands of Americans are killed by fentanyl-laced narcotics as well as other precursor chemicals. These substances enter the United States directly from China, as well as through Chinese networks based in Europe and South America. This is not a public-health anomaly. It is a foreign-enabled criminal pipeline.
Money Laundering and “Flying Money” Systems
Ellis warned that Chinese money-laundering organizations have evolved into elite financial crime networks:
“Chinese money laundering organizations have become one of the key actors laundering money professionally in the United States and around the globe.”
He explained why these systems are so difficult to disrupt:
“Because there is no physical transfer of money across borders and transactions involve non-transparent accounts in the PRC, these schemes are extremely difficult for authorities to counteract.”
Chinese networks use shell companies and layered transactions to launder criminal proceeds inside the United States. By conducting hundreds of transfers through multiple accounts, engaging in trade-based money laundering, and exploiting regulatory gaps, they are able to move funds back to mainland China with minimal detection.
Human Smuggling and Counterintelligence Risk
Ellis testified that Chinese criminal networks facilitate large-scale human smuggling operations into the United States:
“In 2024, more than 30,000 Chinese nationals were intercepted crossing the southern border into the United States.”
He added a national-security warning:
“This raises legitimate questions that PRC security services could exploit these criminal networks to smuggle agents into the United States for espionage or sabotage.”
Beyond intelligence risks, terrorists, traffickers, and smugglers exploit these same pathways to enter the United States. While border security improvements under the Trump administration have reduced these routes, the threat remains active.
Geopolitical Threat in Latin America and the Caribbean
Over the past ten years, China has infiltrated Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programs across Caribbean island nations. According to regional governments, thousands of citizenships are sold annually to foreign nationals. Given the small populations of these countries, the granting of voting rights and land ownership to large numbers of foreign citizens presents a serious geopolitical risk.
Foreign actors, including China, can influence elections and destabilize governments. These islands are located within operational proximity to U.S. territories, compounding the national-security implications.
With the recent federal arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the U.S. government has taken significant steps to disrupt Chinese efforts to establish a strategic foothold in the Caribbean and South America. However, much work remains.
Why Washington Must Act
Ellis concluded his testimony with a direct recommendation:
“It is important for the United States to increase cooperation with law enforcement and intelligence bodies in the region, particularly involving Chinese crime groups.”
Failure to act on this testimony will allow deeper entrenchment of these networks across the Western Hemisphere and increase the likelihood that criminal, intelligence, and state-aligned activities converge both regionally and inside the United States.
