New Tools to Fight Fentanyl Trafficking, as President Biden Signs Legislation

Bipartisan legislation to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and target those supplying the ingredients to make the deadly synthetic opioid was signed into law by President Biden. 

The FEND Off Fentanyl Act was tucked into the $95 billion national security package that included money to support Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and money for humanitarian aid in Gaza, and other national security priorities. 

The legislation passed Congress one year after it was introduced by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Tim Scott (R-SC), the leaders of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. 

“FEND Off Fentanyl will save lives by going directly after the drug cartels’ billions in illicit profits, targeting the entire fentanyl supply chain and sanctioning illicit opioid traffickers and money launderers in China and Mexico,” said Senator Brown. “This is good news for law enforcement and for families on the front lines who have demanded action for years now.”

“​​My solution – the FEND OFF Fentanyl Act – freezes and sanctions the assets of the Mexican cartels, cutting off their cash, and starving them of what they need to kill 70,000 Americans,” said Senator Scott. “Today, we’ll have a greater opportunity to stop the flow of fentanyl.”

The legislation enhances the law so U.S. government agencies can more effectively disrupt illicit opioid supply chains and go after those who traffic fentanyl.

As Senator Brown explained: “You go after the Chinese Communist Party that produces and then ships the precursor chemicals. You go after the Mexican syndicates who are making this stuff and smuggling it in.”

Among the provisions in the new law:

  • Declares the international trafficking of fentanyl a national emergency. 

  • Requires the President to sanction transnational criminal organizations and key members of drug cartels engaged in international fentanyl trafficking. 

  • Enables the President to use proceeds of forfeited, sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to further law enforcement efforts.

  • Enhances the ability to enforce sanctions violations.

  • Requires the administration to report to Congress on actions the U.S. government is taking to reduce the international trafficking of fentanyl and related opioids.

  • Allows the Treasury Department to utilize special measures to combat fentanyl-related money laundering.

  • Requires the Treasury Department to prioritize fentanyl-related suspicious transactions and include descriptions of drug cartels’ financing actions in Suspicious Activity Reports.

The legislation was supported by numerous national groups including law enforcement associations and anti-opioid abuse organizations. 

“This bill targets and sanctions transnational organizations and cartels that traffic fentanyl and its precursors, helping to stop the flow of this deadly poison into our country. We cannot take action only after this drug enters our country; we must fight it before it crosses our borders,” said National Association of Police Organizations Executive Director Bill Johnson.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose deaths topped 112,000 in the U.S. in 2023, with fentanyl responsible for a majority of those.


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