I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 502 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2019 

Mr. VARGAS (for himself and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the Drug Enforcement Admin4 istration (DEA) 2017 National Drug Threat Assess5 ment, transnational criminal organizations are in6 creasingly using virtual currencies. 

7 (2) In its 2015 National Money Laundering 

8 Risk Assessment, the Department of the Treasury 

9 concluded: ‘‘The development of virtual currencies is 

10 an attempt to meet a legitimate market demand. Ac11 cording to a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago econ12 omist, United States consumers want payment op13 tions that are versatile and that provide immediate 

14 finality. No United States payment method meets 

15 that description, although cash may come closest. 

16 Virtual currencies can mimic cash’s immediate final17 ity and anonymity and are more versatile than cash 

18 for online and cross-border transactions, making vir19 tual currencies vulnerable for illicit transactions.’’. 

20 (3) Virtual currencies have become a prominent 

21 method to pay for goods and services associated with 

22 illegal sex trafficking and drug trafficking, which are 

23 two of the most detrimental and troubling illegal ac24 tivities facilitated by online marketplaces. 

25 (4) Online marketplaces, including the dark 

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


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1 and advertise for illicit goods and services associated 

2 with sex trafficking and drug trafficking. 

3 (5) According to the International Labour Or4 ganization, in 2016, 4.8 million people in the world 

5 were victims of forced sexual exploitation, and in 

6 2014, the global profit from commercial sexual ex7 ploitation was $99 billion. 

8 (6) In 2016, within the United States, the Cen9 ter for Disease Control estimated that there were 

10 64,000 deaths related to drug overdose, and the 

11 most severe increase in drug overdoses were those 

12 associated with fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (syn13 thetic opioids), which amounted to over 20,000 over14 dose deaths. 

15 (7) According to the United States Department 

16 of the Treasury 2015 National Money Laundering 

17 Risk Assessment, an estimated $64 billion is gen18 erated annually from United States drug trafficking 

19 sales. 

20 (8) Illegal fentanyl in the United States origi21 nates primarily from China, and it is readily avail22 able to purchase through online marketplaces. 

23 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

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

25 the United States shall conduct a study on how virtual 


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1 currencies and online marketplaces are used to facilitate 

2 sex and drug trafficking. The study shall consider— 

3 (1) how online marketplaces, including the dark 

4 web, are being used as platforms to buy, sell, or fa5 cilitate the financing of goods or services associated 

6 with sex trafficking or drug trafficking (specifically, 

7 opioids and synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, 

8 fentanyl analogs, and any precursor chemicals asso9 ciated with manufacturing fentanyl or fentanyl 

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

11 United States; 

12 (2) how financial payment methods, including 

13 virtual currencies and peer-to-peer mobile payment 

14 services, are being utilized by online marketplaces to 

15 facilitate the buying, selling, or financing of goods 

16 and services associated with sex or drug trafficking 

17 destined for, originating from, or within the United 

18 States; 

19 (3) how virtual currencies are being used to fa20 cilitate the buying, selling, or financing of goods and 

21 services associated with sex or drug trafficking, des22 tined for, originating from, or within the United 

23 States, when an online platform is not otherwise in24 volved; 


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1 (4) how illicit funds that have been transmitted 

2 online and through virtual currencies are repatriated 

3 into the formal banking system of the United States 

4 through money laundering or other means; 

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

6 throughout the entire supply chain that participate 

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

8 services associated with sex or drug trafficking 

9 (through online marketplaces or virtual currencies) 

10 destined for, originating from, or within the United 

11 States; 

12 (6) Federal and State agency efforts to impede 

13 the buying, selling, or financing of goods and serv14 ices associated with sex or drug trafficking through 

15 online marketplaces or virtual currencies that are 

16 destined for, originating from, or within the United 

17 States, including efforts to prevent the proceeds 

18 from sex or drug trafficking from entering the 

19 United States banking system through online mar20 ketplaces or virtual currencies; and 

21 (7) to what extent can the immutable and 

22 traceable nature of virtual currencies contribute to 

23 the tracking and prosecution of illicit funding. 

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

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


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1 recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtain2 ing, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose 

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

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

5 such act has not attained 18 years of age. 

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

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

8 General of the United States shall submit to the Com9 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

10 Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the 

11 House of Representatives a report summarizing the re12 sults of the study required under subsection (a), together 

13 with any recommendations for legislative or regulatory ac14 tion that would improve the efforts of Federal agencies 

15 to impede the use of virtual currencies and online market16 places in facilitating sex and drug trafficking. 

Æ 


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