IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 502 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States 

to carry out a study on how virtual currencies and online 

marketplaces are used to buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods or services associated with sex trafficking or drug trafficking, and for other purposes. 


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HR 502 RFS

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fight Illicit Networks 

5 and Detect Trafficking Act’’ or the ‘‘FIND Trafficking 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) According to the Drug Enforcement Admin10 istration (DEA) 2017 National Drug Threat Assess11 ment, transnational criminal organizations are in12 creasingly using virtual currencies. 

13 (2) In its 2015 National Money Laundering 

14 Risk Assessment, the Department of the Treasury 

15 concluded: ‘‘The development of virtual currencies is 

16 an attempt to meet a legitimate market demand. Ac17 cording to a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago econ18 omist, United States consumers want payment op19 tions that are versatile and that provide immediate 

20 finality. No United States payment method meets 

21 that description, although cash may come closest. 

22 Virtual currencies can mimic cash’s immediate final23 ity and anonymity and are more versatile than cash 

24 for online and cross-border transactions, making vir25 tual currencies vulnerable for illicit transactions.’’. 


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HR 502 RFS

1 (3) Virtual currencies have become a prominent 

2 method to pay for goods and services associated with 

3 illegal sex trafficking and drug trafficking, which are 

4 two of the most detrimental and troubling illegal ac5 tivities facilitated by online marketplaces. 

6 (4) Online marketplaces, including the dark 

7 web, have become a prominent platform to buy, sell, 

8 and advertise for illicit goods and services associated 

9 with sex trafficking and drug trafficking. 

10 (5) According to the International Labour Or11 ganization, in 2016, 4.8 million people in the world 

12 were victims of forced sexual exploitation, and in 

13 2014, the global profit from commercial sexual ex14 ploitation was $99 billion. 

15 (6) In 2016, within the United States, the Cen16 ter for Disease Control estimated that there were 

17 64,000 deaths related to drug overdose, and the 

18 most severe increase in drug overdoses were those 

19 associated with fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (syn20 thetic opioids), which amounted to over 20,000 over21 dose deaths. 

22 (7) According to the United States Department 

23 of the Treasury 2015 National Money Laundering 

24 Risk Assessment, an estimated $64 billion is genVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H502.RFS H502

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HR 502 RFS

1 erated annually from United States drug trafficking 

2 sales. 

3 (8) Illegal fentanyl in the United States origi4 nates primarily from China, and it is readily avail5 able to purchase through online marketplaces. 

6 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

7 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General of 

8 the United States shall conduct a study on how virtual 

9 currencies and online marketplaces are used to facilitate 

10 sex and drug trafficking. The study shall consider— 

11 (1) how online marketplaces, including the dark 

12 web, are being used as platforms to buy, sell, or fa13 cilitate the financing of goods or services associated 

14 with sex trafficking or drug trafficking (specifically, 

15 opioids and synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, 

16 fentanyl analogs, and any precursor chemicals asso17 ciated with manufacturing fentanyl or fentanyl 

18 analogs) destined for, originating from, or within the 

19 United States; 

20 (2) how financial payment methods, including 

21 virtual currencies and peer-to-peer mobile payment 

22 services, are being utilized by online marketplaces to 

23 facilitate the buying, selling, or financing of goods 

24 and services associated with sex or drug trafficking 


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1 destined for, originating from, or within the United 

2 States; 

3 (3) how virtual currencies are being used to fa4 cilitate the buying, selling, or financing of goods and 

5 services associated with sex or drug trafficking, des6 tined for, originating from, or within the United 

7 States, when an online platform is not otherwise in8 volved; 

9 (4) how illicit funds that have been transmitted 

10 online and through virtual currencies are repatriated 

11 into the formal banking system of the United States 

12 through money laundering or other means; 

13 (5) the participants (state and non-state actors) 

14 throughout the entire supply chain that participate 

15 in the buying, selling, or financing of goods and 

16 services associated with sex or drug trafficking 

17 (through online marketplaces or virtual currencies) 

18 destined for, originating from, or within the United 

19 States; 

20 (6) Federal and State agency efforts to impede 

21 the buying, selling, or financing of goods and serv22 ices associated with sex or drug trafficking through 

23 online marketplaces or virtual currencies that are 

24 destined for, originating from, or within the United 

25 States, including efforts to prevent the proceeds 


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1 from sex or drug trafficking from entering the 

2 United States banking system through online mar3 ketplaces or virtual currencies; and 

4 (7) to what extent can the immutable and 

5 traceable nature of virtual currencies contribute to 

6 the tracking and prosecution of illicit funding. 

7 (b) SCOPE.—For the purposes of the study required 

8 under subsection (a), the term ‘‘sex trafficking’’ means the 

9 recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtain10 ing, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose 

11 of a commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, 

12 or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform 

13 such act has not attained 18 years of age. 

14 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

16 General of the United States shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

18 Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the 

19 House of Representatives a report summarizing the re20 sults of the study required under subsection (a), together 

21 with any recommendations for legislative or regulatory ac22 tion that would improve the efforts of Federal agencies 


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1 to impede the use of virtual currencies and online market2 places in facilitating sex and drug trafficking. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 28, 

2019. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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