I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5035 

To require the President to determine whether Hezbollah should be designated 

as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker or a transnational criminal 

organization, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

Mr. BUDD (for himself and Mr. ZELDIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the President to determine whether Hezbollah 

should be designated as a significant foreign narcotics 

trafficker or a transnational criminal organization, 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 ‘‘Hezbollah Kingpin 

5 Designation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Since 2010, Lebanese-based Hezbollah has 

2 been linked with South American drug trafficking 

3 organizations. 

4 (2) The Drug Enforcement Administration’s 

5 ‘‘Project Cassandra’’ has identified Hezbollah as a 

6 major supplier of cocaine into the United States. 

7 (3) On January 11, 2018, Attorney General 

8 Jeff Sessions announced the creation of the 

9 Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team to 

10 investigate individuals and networks providing sup11 port to Hezbollah’s narcoterrorist activities. 

12 (4) Michael Braun testified before the Com13 mittee on Financial Services of the House of Rep14 resentatives, on June 8, 2016, that ‘‘hundreds of 

15 tons of cocaine, over [a] 15-year period and move 

16 massive amounts of currency, hundreds of, millions, 

17 perhaps billions of dollars in currency around the 

18 world in the most sophisticated money laundering 

19 scheme that we have ever witnessed’’. 

20 (5) In 2011, the Drug Enforcement Adminis21 tration indicted Ayman Saied Joumaa, a Lebanese22 Colombian dual national, for using a global network 

23 of companies operating out of Latin America, West 

24 Africa, and Lebanon to launder as much as 


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1 $200,000,000 a month in drug proceeds for Mexican 

2 and Colombian cartels. 

3 (6) The House of Representatives passed H.R. 

4 3329, the Hezbollah International Financing Pre5 vention Act, on October 25, 2017, to provide addi6 tional resources to enforcement agencies to counter 

7 Hezbollah’s other criminal enterprises including 

8 money laundering. 

9 SEC. 3. DESIGNATIONS REQUIRED. 

10 (a) KINGPIN DESIGNATION.—Not later than 120 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi12 dent shall, in accordance with the requirements for addi13 tional determinations under section 804(h)(1) of the Intel14 ligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (21 U.S.C. 

15 1903(h)(1)), determine whether Hezbollah is a ‘‘signifi16 cant foreign narcotics trafficker’’, as such term is defined 

17 for purposes of such section. 

18 (b) TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION DES19 IGNATION.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to Con21 gress a determination whether to designate Hezbollah as 

22 a ‘‘transnational criminal organization’’, as such term is 

23 defined for purposes of the list of specially designated na24 tionals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of 


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1 Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treas2 ury. 

3 SEC. 4. ASSET REPORT. 

4 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a 

6 report to the Committees on Financial Services and For7 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com8 mittees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and For9 eign Relations of the Senate containing an estimate of the 

10 total assets under direct or indirect control by Hezbollah11 linked leaders of political parties or movements who are 

12 located in the United States. 

Æ 


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