That bill would compel the Biden administration to prioritize the fight against fentanyl trafficking and prod Treasury to use its sanctions authority to quell the proliferation of the drug in the U.S.ĭeclaring international fentanyl trafficking a national emergency, the legislation would require Treasury to sanction drug cartels It also would impose reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts. Lawmakers are making a bipartisan effort to get that declaration, with legislation sponsored by the leaders and ranking members of the Senate Banking and Armed Services Committees that was introduced Tuesday. “It would empower the CDC to collaborate with people at Treasury, for instance, to save some very young innocent people." Such a declaration could lead to tougher sanctions, DelPonte said. But with the number of overdose deaths exploding in recent years, there are calls for more action, including a national emergency declaration similar to the one at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department has imposed sanctions on fentanyl producers and traffickers in recent years - and as recently as this month issued a set of sanctions on a group of Mexican and Chinese fentanyl distributors. China officially suspended its counternarcotic and law enforcement cooperation with the U.S. and China on multiple fronts have made efforts to stop the importation of illicit fentanyl more difficult, a Congressional Research Service report states. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China. Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 71,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in 2021, up from almost 58,000 in 2020. “There are a lot of hands involved in this crime."įentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. “As a matter of policy we are dealing with drug cartels who have tremendous economic gain to be made,” said Paul DelPonte, executive director of the nonprofit National Crime Prevention Council, which is pushing for tougher action against those behind the scourge of drug overdose and death. Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine - turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world. WASHINGTON – Over the past year, the U.S.
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