U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has announced the passage of the Fentanyl Eradication & Narcotics Deterrence, or FEND, Off Fentanyl Act.
Gillibrand’s office said that the legislation would give the U.S. government the power to crack down on producers and traffickers bringing dangerous drugs into the country in an effort to fight the opioid epidemic.
She said in a press release, “No community has been left untouched by the opioid epidemic. Over the past few years, I’ve met with multiple law enforcement agencies struggling to control the flow of fentanyl into their communities, and I’ve heard too many tragic stories from New Yorkers who’ve lost friends and family to fentanyl overdoses.”
The legislation will officially declare the international trafficking of fentanyl a national emergency.
It will also mandate the following:
– Require the president to sanction transnational criminal organizations and drug cartels’ key members engaged in international fentanyl trafficking
– Enable the president to use proceeds of forfeited, sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to further law enforcement efforts
– Enhance the ability to enforce sanctions violations, making it more likely that people who defy US law will be caught and prosecuted
– Require the administration to report to Congress on actions the US government is taking to reduce the international trafficking of fentanyl and related opioids
– Allow the Treasury Department to utilize special measures to combat fentanyl-related money laundering
– Require the Treasury Department to prioritize fentanyl-related suspicious transactions and include descriptions of drug cartels’ financing actions in Suspicious Activity Reports
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