The Bureau Podcast

In this sweeping conversation with Jason James of BNN, I discuss some of The Bureau’s biggest investigations of the summer — including the widening pattern of prosecutorial failures in major synthetic narcotics and money laundering cases in British Columbia. We spotlight the recent collapse of charges against a Chinese-state linked scientist accused of importing over 100 kilograms of precursors for MDMA production.I connect the networks involved to entities previously entangled in the RCMP’s infamous E-Pirate probe, then broaden the lens to examine organized crime's penetration of British Columbia institutions — including the province’s auto insurer.We also dig into the geopolitical and financial stakes behind Premier David Eby and BC Ferries’ controversial $1-billion deal to build vessels in China with a military-linked state shipyard — a project reportedly financed through a federal development bank overseen by Canada’s new Housing Minister, Gregor Robertson. As Vancouver’s former mayor, Robertson and his council were previously embroiled in questions surrounding Chinese political influence and real estate investment in British Columbia. The question of foreign investment in Canadian cities has returned to the forefront in Victoria and Ottawa.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

OTTAWA — A prominent former Canadian Special Forces operator who continues to train law enforcement says his former unit, Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2), should be granted the authorities and mandate to target fentanyl superlabs and dismantle the transnational narco-terror networks now embedding across Canada — from Chinese Communist Party proxies to cartel cells crossing the southern B.C. border with grenades and Mexican passports.“This is our problem. It’s on our soil,” former JTF2 member Randy Turner says in an exchange with investigative reporter Sam Cooper of The Bureau. “And our kids are the ones that are going to feel the wrath of it. So we need to do something about it — and do something about it right now.”This unique back-and-forth interview — with Turner questioning Cooper on his expertise and prescription for better national security outcomes in North America, and Cooper in turn questioning Turner — has also been posted to Turner’s Direct Action podcast.Midway through the conversation, Cooper puts the national security question bluntly: now that Ottawa has followed the Trump administration’s lead and designated Mexican cartels operating on Canadian soil as terror entities, should JTF2 be granted clearance and authority to target transnational narco-terror threats inside Canada?Framing the discussion, Cooper notes that — just as U.S. national security officials like Kash Patel have said — it is cartel syndicates working with Chinese Communist Party and Iranian threat networks, particularly in cities like Vancouver, that encapsulate the deadly scourge of fentanyl killing tens of thousands of young North Americans every year.He presses the point: should the cartels and Chinese networks now operating in Canada be considered executable targets for JTF2, which is mandated to counter terror threats on Canadian soil?Cooper points to evidence in court records — including arrests of cartel operatives at a house in Surrey, British Columbia, where police seized grenades, dozens of Mexican passports, and heavy weaponry consistent with open warfare.Turner’s answer is unequivocal. “We have forces and people and professionals and talented individuals that have a solution to these problems. Let them do their work.”“There’s pieces and parts to ensure successful missions like this go off — but it would start with policy change,” he explained. “And it would start with having a legitimate conversation about: what action steps are we going to put into place right now? What can we change? And why have we not yet? There are some things that could have been put in place years ago.”“I think part of that is the public conversation,” Cooper responded. “First, knowing we have the capabilities. Second, admitting we have the problem.Yeah — our borders have been weak.Yeah — we do have fentanyl superlabs.Yeah — Vancouver and Toronto are laundering trillions — over a trillion dollars, my research shows — from these networks.“And it’s impacting every part of your life, and your children’s lives to come. Can they compete for a home?”Throughout the conversation, which traces both of their professional paths, Cooper explains why he sought out Turner for personal defense training. It followed a judicially authorized RCMP warning in July 2023: Cooper had been identified as a target of transnational repression due to his reporting on People’s Republic of China operations in Canada.Like some of Turner’s other private clients, Cooper chose to train with someone who understood the terrain — hostile surveillance, targeted intimidation, and potential conflict.In a wide-ranging exchange covering national security policy and what both described as Canada’s cultural blindness to foreign threats, Turner delivered a blunt message. He criticized what he sees as a passive-aggressive Canadian response to increasingly urgent warnings from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement — and called for a national shift in mindset.“Sometimes I get fired up,” Turner said. “And I will sometimes say things that are, you know, rightfully emotionally driven. It’s because I give a s**t. And I’m also very wide awake to what’s going on.“Until we start, as a Canadian collective, coming together, working together, and sharing these ideas with each other and actually taking a stance — it’s only gonna get worse. And for Canadians out there that believe otherwise, you need to get your head out of the sand, look up, and shake your head a little bit. Take heed to what’s actually happening right here in Canada.”“I’ve said before, let’s apply the passion we do to the hockey playoffs to other things going on in the country,” Cooper responded. “If someone runs your goalie, you don’t let that stand. We’re letting our country be run over.”The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

OTTAWA / LOS ANGELES — In this discussion with Chris Meyer of Widefountain, we dig deeper into my findings on an explosive narcotics precursor case quietly dropped by Canadian prosecutors—and what it reveals about Canada's growing vulnerabilities to foreign infiltration.We unpack the story of a Chinese chemist, known here as Dr. X, who was charged with importing more than 100 kilograms of PMK ethyl glycidate—a key chemical used in the production of MDMA (ecstasy). Court records in combination with open source findings show Dr. X had direct ties to a bio-pharmaceutical firm affiliated with the University of British Columbia, and was reportedly recruited under Beijing’s “Thousand Talents Plan”—a program U.S. intelligence agencies warn is used to facilitate espionage and the transfer of dual-use technologies.The case forms part of a broader pattern uncovered by The Bureau and Widefountain, pointing to Chinese state-linked facilitation of poly-drug trafficking and money laundering operations across the Western Hemisphere.This episode raises urgent questions about the deepening intersection between synthetic drug networks and foreign interference efforts operating within Canada.We explore new revelations from The Bureau’s reporting, including:* Dr. X’s links to community groups operating under the CCP’s United Front Work Department, Beijing’s overseas influence arm.* Her affiliation with Zhejiang University, an institution flagged for ties to China’s Ministry of State Security.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

OTTAWA/LOS ANGELES — Chris Meyer of Widefountain returns to question The Bureau on findings from The Quiet Invasion—a landmark timeline investigation into how Vancouver became a beachhead for transnational organized crime and Chinese hybrid warfare. What began in the late 1980s as low-profile infiltration by Chinese Triads has evolved into a full-spectrum crisis involving encrypted telecoms, fentanyl superlabs, and political access reaching Canada’s highest offices. In this episode, Meyer and Sam Cooper discuss the range of findings, including Canadian vulnerabilities now believed to be of deep concern to the U.S. government.For example, one firm in a cluster of Vancouver-based encrypted communications companies—linked to Mexican cartels, Hezbollah narco-terror networks, and PRC-affiliated clients, and flagged by U.S. agencies—was found to share an address with a chemical import business. That company received at least 85 tons of precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and MDMA. The shipments coincided with the early explosion of fentanyl overdoses across Canada—and what Five Eyes enforcement experts now identify as a dual-threat: a tech front shielding cartel and Chinese actors, while facilitating the chemical backbone of the opioid crisis.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

In a riveting discussion, Chris Meyer, a researcher at WideFountain focusing on China's political culture, unpacks the Chinese Communist Party's intricate strategies for infiltrating North America. He connects the fentanyl crisis to historical policies from Deng Xiaoping's era, revealing how corruption and organized crime became tools for geopolitical disruption. The conversation delves into the rise of powerful narcotics syndicates, their ties to Beijing, and the historical interplay between drug trafficking and state power, all while linking Vancouver's port as a crucial juncture.

Adam Zivo, an independent journalist and columnist for the National Post, shares his firsthand experiences from Jerusalem amid the escalating war. Surprisingly calm in Israel, he reveals a public increasingly focused on Iran as the main adversary rather than Gaza. Zivo discusses potential U.S. military involvement and the dramatic shift in Israeli sentiment toward confronting Iran's regime. He provides insights into the complex dynamics of the conflict, the resilience of locals during protests, and the implications of these emerging strategies.

In this episode, Sam Cooper sits down with Jason James of BNN to examine The Bureau's months-long investigation into the convergence of Chinese state-backed fentanyl networks, Mexican cartels, and Iranian proxy groups. The conversation revisits key findings from Wilful Blindness (2021), which first exposed how Vancouver’s port and economy were exploited as gateways for China’s transnational narcotics and money laundering operations.Together, Sam and Jason unpack why U.S. authorities are now publicly affirming the very networks and vulnerabilities previously dismissed in Canada—and why, despite mounting evidence, a bloc within Canadian politics and media continues to fiercely deny the scope of the threat.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

Sam welcomes back Chris Meyer from Wide Fountain to break down The Bureau’s explosive reporting with retired DEA agent Don Im—and the chilling implications of what Im and other U.S. experts describe as a “reverse Opium War.”They trace the roots of Beijing’s alleged silent role in a vast narcotics-finance system: a web of Triads, Communist Party actors, and Western enablers laundering drug proceeds through legitimate trade. From fentanyl warehouses in Vancouver to encrypted cash auctions on WeChat, this is a global operation—sophisticated, deliberate, and devastating.Chris and Sam explore how Donald Trump’s trade war exposed fractures in a covert global economy—and why emerging signals from within China suggest Xi Jinping’s grip on power may be weakening. As the West confronts the mounting toll of fentanyl, Chris calls for a bipartisan reckoning: no more trade without accountability—and reparations.This isn’t just a narco story. It’s a story of power, profit, politics—and a clash of civilizations.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

Welcome back to The Bureau. Today, we bring you a special cross-border collaboration—linking explosive findings from rural Maine to revelations inside Vancouver’s shadow economy.Joining me is Steve Robinson, the investigative editor who got the ball rolling on a major story tying an illegal marijuana operation in Maine to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department—Beijing’s foreign influence and intelligence arm. Steve’s reporting for The Maine Wire—later advanced by the Daily Caller News Foundation—traces how a so-called community group in New York City, the Sijiu Association, maintains close ties to the Chinese Consulate and has pledged financial support to United Front projects.These findings echo what The Bureau has uncovered in Canada, where United Front operatives have used legalization as cover for a sprawling cannabis export and laundering network. In Vancouver, Toronto, and remote parts of British Columbia and Ontario especially, United Front-linked triads have quietly consolidated legal cannabis licenses, exploited illegal migrant labor, and shipped massive volumes of marijuana to the United States and Japan, with inroads to Europe too—laundering the proceeds back through Canadian banks.In this episode, Steve and I will compare notes, connect the dots, and expose how these networks—rooted in state-directed influence and organized crime—are reshaping the underground economy across North America, just as FBI scrutiny intensifies.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe

In this special episode, investigative Sinologist Chris Meyer of Wide Fountain joins The Bureau to dissect a deeply troubling picture emerging from our reporting—one that places Canada at the center of a global narcotics and money laundering operation with ties to Chinese intelligence.At the heart of the conversation: Chi Lap Tse, also known as Sam Gor, or “The Third Son”—the elusive boss of a transnational criminal organization trafficking fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, ketamine, methamphetamine and cannabis globally into the Americas, using Canada as a production, transshipment and money laundering hub for China. Based on assessments of The Bureau’s multiple investigations, including DEA and RCMP intelligence, and his research into Chinese history, Meyer argues that Tse and his “Big Circle Boys” associates are not just drug traffickers—but state-trained commanders whose operations benefit, and in some cases are subtly directed by, the Chinese Communist Party.We revisit my recent exposé on a mysterious 30-acre estate in B.C.’s Columbia Valley—just steps from the U.S. border—tied to Tse, a senior Chinese security figure, United Front-linked mining and chemical interests, and convicted Sam Gor narcotics traffickers like Ye Long Yong. According to RCMP sources, the property has been flagged for cross-border helicopter smuggling, association to high-level money laundering, cannabis, and a nexus of geopolitical friction between Ottawa and Washington.Meyer connects the dots between Canada’s exploitation by United Front mafias and those that architected their global operations in southern China, where Xi Jinping’s backers wield tremendous regional influence that has captured the balance of power in Beijing, according to Wide Fountain’s reports.The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebureau.news/subscribe