[118th Congress Public Law 79]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 131 STAT. 1515]]
Public Law 118-79
118th Congress
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. <<NOTE: Sept. 13,
2024 - [H.R. 1076]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Preventing the
Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act.>>
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.''.
[[Page 131 STAT. 1516]]
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) <<NOTE: Social media.>> 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) <<NOTE: Time period. Determinations.>> 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
[[Page 131 STAT. 1517]]
all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required
under subsection (a).
Approved September 13, 2024.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 1076:
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HOUSE REPORTS: No. 118-75, Pt. 1 (Comm. on Financial Services).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 169 (2023):
May 22, considered and passed House.
Vol. 170 (2024):
July 23, considered and passed
Senate.
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