[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1076 Engrossed in House (EH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1076
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a
study on the trafficking into the United States of synthetic drugs, and
related illicit finance, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing the Financing of Illegal
Synthetic Drugs Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, over 107,000 people in the United States died from
drug overdoses or drug poisonings in the 12-month period ending
January 2022, with 67 percent of those deaths involving
synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
(2) According to the United National Office of Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) in its ``Synthetic Drug Strategy 2021-2025'', the
number of synthetic drugs, also called New Psychoactive
Substances, has increased 631 percent since 2009, with
traffickers introducing an average of 80 new substances to the
illicit drug market each year from 2009-2019.
(3) In October 2022, F. Michael McDaniel, director of the
Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HITDA) program
testified in Congress that one kilogram of fentanyl can produce
one million counterfeit pills containing one milligram of
fentanyl, saying, ``Currently in Houston, Texas, you can buy a
kilogram of fentanyl for an average price of $25,000 to
$30,000. This same kilogram of fentanyl in Culiacan (Mexico)
could be purchased at an average price of $13,500. Currently,
the price of a fentanyl pill in Houston ranges from $6 to $65.
Therefore, an illicit investment of $30,000 or less could
result in a return of $6 to $32.5 million.''.
(4) According to Celina B. Realuyo, Adjunct Professor, The
George Washington University Elliott School of International
Affairs, in March 2022 Congressional testimony, ``Financing is
essential to support and sustain the command and control,
personnel, arms, communications, logistics and operations of
organized crime groups. For this reason, following the money
trail and depriving criminals of illicit financial flows can
disrupt and disable these networks.''.
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY ON SYNTHETIC DRUGS TRAFFICKING.
(a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
carry out a study on illicit financing in connection with the
trafficking of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine,
fentanyl- and methamphetamine-related substances, Captagon, and
fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors, including--
(1) the business of the trafficking of synthetic drugs and
related illicit finance, such as the participation of
transnational criminal organizations and terror syndicates and
their notable trafficking corridors, including source and
transit countries;
(2) the business models used by these transnational
criminal organizations, including U.S. domestic and foreign
activities for precursor purchase or production, movement along
the supply chain, manufacture of the completed product,
marketing, distribution, sales, and return of proceeds;
(3) the overlap of the business model of human trafficking
and the trafficking of synthetic drugs and related illicit
finance;
(4) the use of online illicit drug markets and the use of
social media for the marketing, sale, and payment for synthetic
drugs;
(5) financial methods used by such transnational criminal
organizations, including--
(A) payment;
(B) money laundering; and
(C) repatriation of proceeds;
(6) the use of social media applications like Snap Chat,
Discord, and Facebook and payment applications like CashApp to
facilitate financial transactions for synthetic drug
trafficking, especially among young people; and
(7) U.S. Government activities to combat illicit finance
related to the trafficking of synthetic drugs, including--
(A) interagency collaboration, including personnel
detailed to other agencies to support the effort to
combat synthetic drugs trafficking and related illicit
finance;
(B) intergovernmental collaboration;
(C) intersectoral collaboration with the private
sector, including the business and non-governmental
communities; and
(D) identified gaps or resource deficiencies in
combating the trafficking of synthetic drugs and
related illicit finance in the coordination and
collaboration activities described in subparagraphs (A)
through (C).
(b) Report Required.--Not later than the end of the 1-year period
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General
shall issue a report to the Congress containing all findings and
determinations made in carrying out the study required under subsection
(a).
Passed the House of Representatives May 22, 2023.
Attest:
Clerk.
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1076
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a
study on the trafficking into the United States of synthetic drugs, and
related illicit finance, and for other purposes.