[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:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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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