II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 410 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 

Housing, and Urban Affairs 

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 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment, 

5 transnational criminal organizations are increasingly 

6 using virtual currencies. 

7 (2) In the 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, 4,800,000 people in the world 

5 were victims of forced sexual exploitation, and in 

6 2014, the global profit from commercial sexual ex7 ploitation was $99,000,000,000. 

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 2015 National Money 

16 Laundering Risk Assessment published by the De17 partment of the Treasury, an estimated 

18 $64,000,000,000 is generated annually from United 

19 States drug trafficking 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 or benefit from the buying, selling, or financing 

8 of goods and services associated with sex or drug 

9 trafficking (either through online marketplaces or 

10 virtual currencies) destined for, originating from, or 

11 within the United 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 destined 

16 for, originating from, or within the United States, 

17 including efforts to prevent the proceeds from sex or 

18 drug trafficking from entering the United States 

19 banking system through online marketplaces or vir20 tual currencies; 

21 (7) how virtual currencies and their underlying 

22 technologies can be used to detect and deter these 

23 illicit activities; and 


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1 (8) to what extent can the immutable and 

2 traceable nature of virtual currencies contribute to 

3 the tracking and prosecution of illicit funding. 

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

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

6 recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtain7 ing, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose 

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

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

10 such act has not attained 18 years of age. 

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

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

13 General of the United States shall submit to the Com14 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

15 Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the 

16 House of Representatives a report summarizing the re17 sults of the study required under subsection (a), together 

18 with any recommendations for legislative or regulatory ac19 tion that would improve the efforts of Federal agencies 

20 to impede the use of virtual currencies and online market21 places in facilitating sex and drug trafficking. 

Æ 


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