Exclusive – DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin: Congress Must Close Green List Loopholes to Keep out Fentanyl

Congress must close the FDA green list loopholes to keep fentanyl out of the country, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during a policy event with Breitbart News on Tuesday. Washington Bureau chief Matthew Boyle asked Mullin about the Chinese products coming into the country via the FDA green list, as well as the fentanyl crisis. “HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, which is the best three-letter agency that people don’t pay attention to – they are absolute studs. I feel so honored to have them part of the Homeland Security portfolio. But HHS also has jurisdiction in this, and so a lot of the authorities that we have will come from HHS, which we have to turn over to,” he said, discussing the green list. “So there’s a jurisdiction issue, and there’s a little thing that may be a bigger problem, is that Congress may have to act in some of these authorities that we have, but we’re well aware of it,” he explained, noting that “fentanyl crossing and interdictions have dropped tremendously because of the pressure we put on.” “But the more pressure we put on the southern border, now we’re having issues in the interior. We had the biggest fentanyl lab bust in our history just this year since I’ve been in office, and it was on a reservation, so I met with our tribal leaders just a couple weeks ago, and explained it in the car. There’s a jurisdictional issue on reservations,” he said, explaining that this creates “a tremendous loophole for cartels and organized crime to work in.” He also spoke about the dangers of synthetics and how they contribute to the opioid crisis. “…[W]e’re seeing that come in from India and China right now, and so there’s a loophole … And so every time we find it, we’ve got to shut it down,” he added. WATCH the entire event below: