Spanberger, Crenshaw Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Crack Down on Cartels, Combat Fentanyl Trafficking

The “Transnational Fentanyl Prevention Act” Would Require CIA Assess Trafficking Operations, Suppliers, & Leadership of the Mexico-Based Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02) — both Members of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee — yesterday introduced bipartisan legislation to crack down on dangerous fentanyl trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.

The Transnational Fentanyl Prevention Act would require the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to prepare an intelligence assessment of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels, the two Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations responsible for producing and distributing the majority of synthetic drugs trafficked into the United States from Mexico. The required assessment would examine the production methods, suppliers, cross-border trafficking routes, leadership, and additional operations of the two cartels.

“As a former CIA case officer who tracked transnational criminal organizations, I know that our intelligence community can play a vital role in disrupting traffickers and cartels,” said Spanberger. “The United States must recognize the urgency of the crisis at our southern border as fentanyl and other illicit narcotics kill thousands of Virginians and Americans across our country. I’m proud to work with Congressman Crenshaw to prioritize stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl across our border and into our communities, dismantling dangerous cartels, and neutralizing these threats to our national security.”

“The Intelligence Community is doing incredible work to combat the cartels. This bill will solidify and codify that work into law,” said Crenshaw. “The cartels must be taken seriously as a national security threat.”

Specifically, the bipartisan Transnational Fentanyl Prevention Act would require the CIA to assess:

• Key leaders, organizational structure, subgroups, presence in the states within Mexico, and cross-border illicit drug smuggling routes of the transnational criminal organization.

• The practices used by the transnational criminal organization to import the chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, to produce such drugs, and to smuggle such drugs across the border into the United States.

• The main suppliers and the main brokers that supply the transnational criminal organization with precursor chemicals and equipment used in the production of synthetic drugs.

• The manner in which the transnational criminal organization is tailoring the fentanyl products of such organization to attract a wider variety of United States consumers, including unwitting users.

• The degree to which the transnational criminal organization is using human and technical operations to undermine counternarcotics efforts by United States and Mexican security services.

• An estimate of the annual revenue received by the transnational criminal organization from the sale of illicit drugs, disaggregated by drug type.

• Any other information the Director of the CIA determines relevant.

Click here for the bill text.

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