IB 

Union Calendar No. 55 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1076 

[Report No. 118–75, Part I] 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a 

study on the trafficking into the United States of synthetic drugs, and 

related illicit finance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2023 

Ms. DE LA CRUZ (for herself, Ms. PETTERSEN, and Mr. OGLES) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and 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 

MAY 22, 2023 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LAWLER, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Mr. DONALDS, 

Mr. STEIL, Mr. PAPPAS, and Ms. PEREZ

MAY 22, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

MAY 22, 2023 

Committees on the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 17, 2023] 


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•HR 1076 RH

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States 

to carry out a study on the trafficking into the United 

States of synthetic drugs, and related illicit finance, and 

for other purposes. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1076 RH

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 ‘‘Preventing the Financ5 ing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to the Center for Disease Control 

9 and Prevention, over 107,000 people in the United 

10 States died from drug overdoses or drug poisonings in 

11 the 12-month period ending January 2022, with 67 

12 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like 

13 fentanyl. 

14 (2) According to the United National Office of 

15 Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its ‘‘Synthetic Drug 

16 Strategy 2021-2025’’, the number of synthetic drugs, 

17 also called New Psychoactive Substances, has in18 creased 631 percent since 2009, with traffickers intro19 ducing an average of 80 new substances to the illicit 

20 drug market each year from 2009-2019. 

21 (3) In October 2022, F. Michael McDaniel, direc22 tor of the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking 

23 Areas (HITDA) program testified in Congress that 

24 one kilogram of fentanyl can produce one million 

25 counterfeit pills containing one milligram of fentanyl, 


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•HR 1076 RH

1 saying, ‘‘Currently in Houston, Texas, you can buy 

2 a kilogram of fentanyl for an average price of $25,000 

3 to $30,000. This same kilogram of fentanyl in 

4 Culiaca ́n (Mexico) could be purchased at an average 

5 price of $13,500. Currently, the price of a fentanyl 

6 pill in Houston ranges from $6 to $65. Therefore, an 

7 illicit investment of $30,000 or less could result in a 

8 return of $6 to $32.5 million.’’. 

9 (4) According to Celina B. Realuyo, Adjunct 

10 Professor, The George Washington University Elliott 

11 School of International Affairs, in March 2022 Con12 gressional testimony, ‘‘Financing is essential to sup13 port and sustain the command and control, personnel, 

14 arms, communications, logistics and operations of or15 ganized crime groups. For this reason, following the 

16 money trail and depriving criminals of illicit finan17 cial flows can disrupt and disable these networks.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY ON SYNTHETIC DRUGS TRAFFICKING. 

19 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

20 States shall carry out a study on illicit financing in connec21 tion with the trafficking of synthetic drugs, including 

22 fentanyl and methamphetamine, fentanyl- and meth23 amphetamine-related substances, Captagon, and fentanyl 

24 and methamphetamine precursors, including— 


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•HR 1076 RH

1 (1) the business of the trafficking of synthetic 

2 drugs and related illicit finance, such as the partici3 pation of transnational criminal organizations and 

4 terror syndicates and their notable trafficking cor5 ridors, including source and transit countries; 

6 (2) the business models used by these 

7 transnational criminal organizations, including U.S. 

8 domestic and foreign activities for precursor purchase 

9 or production, movement along the supply chain, 

10 manufacture of the completed product, marketing, dis11 tribution, sales, and return of proceeds; 

12 (3) the overlap of the business model of human 

13 trafficking and the trafficking of synthetic drugs and 

14 related illicit finance; 

15 (4) the use of online illicit drug markets and the 

16 use of social media for the marketing, sale, and pay17 ment for synthetic drugs; 

18 (5) financial methods used by such transnational 

19 criminal organizations, including— 

20 (A) payment; 

21 (B) money laundering; and 

22 (C) repatriation of proceeds; 

23 (6) the use of social media applications like 

24 Snap Chat, Discord, and Facebook and payment ap25 plications like CashApp to facilitate financial transVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1076.RH H1076

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•HR 1076 RH

1 actions for synthetic drug trafficking, especially 

2 among young people; and 

3 (7) U.S. Government activities to combat illicit 

4 finance related to the trafficking of synthetic drugs, 

5 including— 

6 (A) interagency collaboration, including 

7 personnel detailed to other agencies to support 

8 the effort to combat synthetic drugs trafficking 

9 and related illicit finance; 

10 (B) intergovernmental collaboration; 

11 (C) intersectoral collaboration with the pri12 vate sector, including the business and non-gov13 ernmental communities; and 

14 (D) identified gaps or resource deficiencies 

15 in combating the trafficking of synthetic drugs 

16 and related illicit finance in the coordination 

17 and collaboration activities described in sub18 paragraphs (A) through (C). 

19 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than the end of the 

20 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

21 Act, the Comptroller General shall issue a report to the Con22 gress containing all findings and determinations made in 

23 carrying out the study required under subsection (a). 


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kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 55 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1076 

[Report No. 118–75, Part I] 

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United 

lated illicit finance, and for other purposes. into the United States of synthetic drugs, and reStates to carry out a study on the trafficking 

MAY 22, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with 

M

an amendment 

AY 22, 2023 

Committees on the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce 

printed House on the State of the Union and ordered to be discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS