II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1048 

To designate Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal organizations 

as foreign terrorist organizations and recognizing the threats those organizations pose to the people of the United States as terrorism, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. HAWLEY, 

Mr. DAINES, Mr. LEE, and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To designate Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and 

recognizing the threats those organizations pose to the 

people of the United States as terrorism, 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 ‘‘Ending the Notorious, 

5 Aggressive, and Remorseless Criminal Organizations and 


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1 Syndicates Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘Ending the NARCOS 

2 Act of 2023’’. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The national security of the United States, 

6 along with the health and safety of the citizens of 

7 the United States, is under attack by Mexican car8 tels and other transnational criminal organizations 

9 that engage in acts of terrorism to exploit the bor10 ders of the United States and further their unlawful 

11 business of producing and importing illicitly manu12 factured fentanyl, a substance that kills hundreds of 

13 thousands of people in the United States each year, 

14 methamphetamine, and other controlled substances. 

15 (2) Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 

16 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times strong17 er than morphine, and some fentanyl-related sub18 stances can have even greater potency. 

19 (3) Although pharmaceutical fentanyl is pre20 scribed by doctors to treat severe pain, illicitly man21 ufactured fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances 

22 are created using precursor chemicals that are pre23 dominantly imported from China and distributed 

24 through illegal drug markets, most commonly by 

25 Mexican cartels across the southern border. 


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1 (4) According to the Centers for Disease Con2 trol and Prevention, nearly 110,000 people in the 

3 United States died during fiscal year 2022 from 

4 drug overdoses. 

5 (5) Approximately 66 percent of those deaths in 

6 fiscal year 2022 related to illicitly manufactured 

7 fentanyl. 

8 (6) In December 2022, the Washington Post re9 ported that, from 2019 to 2021, fatal fentanyl 

10 overdoses surged 94 percent and an estimated 196 

11 people in the United States are now dying each day 

12 from the drug, which is the equivalent of a fully 

13 loaded Boeing 757–200 crashing and killing every14 one on board every day. 

15 (7) The single largest loss of life resulting from 

16 a foreign attack on United States soil was the Sep17 tember 11 terrorist attacks, which killed 2,977 peo18 ple, and fentanyl overdoses cause the equivalent of 

19 a new September 11 nearly every 2 weeks. 

20 (8) In fiscal year 2022, the United States suf21 fered more fentanyl-related deaths than gun- and 

22 auto-related deaths combined. 

23 (9) Illicit fentanyl is now the number one cause 

24 of death among people in the United States between 

25 the ages of 18 and 45. 


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1 (10) A 2017 analysis, accounting for the costs 

2 of health care, criminal justice, lost productivity and 

3 social and family services, estimated that the total 

4 cost of the drug epidemic of the United States facili5 tated by Mexican cartels and other transnational 

6 criminal organizations was more than 

7 $1,000,000,000,000 annually, or 5 percent of gross 

8 domestic product. 

9 (11) Law enforcement and immigration officers 

10 report that smugglers evade apprehension and suc11 cessfully bring large quantities of fentanyl, meth12 amphetamine, and other illicit drugs into the United 

13 States. 

14 (12) Despite seizures both at and between ports 

15 of entry, like the recent seizure by U.S. Customs 

16 and Border Protection of nearly 54 pounds of 

17 fentanyl pills and 32 pounds of methamphetamine at 

18 the Andrade Port of Entry, domestic supply of these 

19 controlled substances indicate a massive amount of 

20 controlled substances are still pouring across our 

21 border. 

22 (13) The Federal Government possesses unuti23 lized resources and lawful measures to combat the 

24 cartels through the designation of those groups as 

25 foreign terrorist organizations. 


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1 (14) Foreign terrorist organizations are foreign 

2 organizations that are designated by the Secretary 

3 of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immi4 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 

5 (15) The designation of organizations as for6 eign terrorist organizations plays a critical role in 

7 the fight against terrorism and is an effective means 

8 of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pres9 suring groups to get out of the terrorism business 

10 because such a designation gives law enforcement 

11 agencies and prosecutors greater powers to freeze 

12 the assets of an organization, to deny members of 

13 the organization entry into the United States, and to 

14 seek tougher punishments against those who provide 

15 material support to the organization. 

16 (16) Under section 219 of the Immigration and 

17 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), the Secretary of 

18 State may designate an organization as a foreign 

19 terrorist organization if— 

20 (A) the organization is a foreign organiza21 tion; 

22 (B) the organization engages in terrorist 

23 activity or terrorism, or retains the capability 

24 and intent to engage in terrorist activity or ter25 rorism; and 


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1 (C) the terrorist activity or terrorism of 

2 the organization threatens the security of 

3 United States nationals or the national security 

4 of the United States. 

5 (17) Mexican cartels satisfy each of those three 

6 criteria, as they are foreign organizations based out7 side the United States, they engage in ‘‘terrorist ac8 tivity’’ such as assassinations, kidnaping, or use of 

9 explosives and firearms, and their terrorist activities 

10 threaten the security of the United States and the 

11 people of the United States. 

12 (18) For instance, four United States citizens, 

13 including 3 people from South Carolina, were re14 cently kidnaped by Mexican drug cartels in Mata15 moros, Mexico, where at least 2 were tragically killed 

16 in cartel violence. 

17 (19) Mexican cartels and other transnational 

18 criminal organizations, as foreign organizations, 

19 make billions of dollars each year importing deadly 

20 drugs into the United States, especially fentanyl and 

21 methamphetamine, which results in the deaths of 

22 hundreds of thousands of people in the United 

23 States each year. 

24 (20) United States Southern Command reports 

25 that criminal organizations, including drug cartels, 


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1 in their Area of Responsibility generate an estimated 

2 annual revenue of approximately $300,000,000,000 

3 more than 5-times the combined defense budget for 

4 the region, including Mexico. 

5 (21) The death and destruction caused by the 

6 illicit drug trade is not limited to overdoses and 

7 gang violence, rather, it extends to a significant pro8 portion of nearly all other criminal activity in the 

9 United States, including burglary, carjacking, rob10 bery, aggravated assault, domestic violence, felony 

11 traffic violations, and much more, and it also ex12 tends to drug addictions that often result in home13 lessness, suicide, human trafficking, child sex traf14 ficking, broken families, birth defects, and other 

15 maladies that are devastating communities across 

16 the United States. 

17 (22) The national security threat posed by 

18 Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal or19 ganizations extends beyond the sale of fentanyl and 

20 other drugs, as these organizations have also shown 

21 a lethal willingness to protect their business by any 

22 means necessary, including organizing Armed Forces 

23 to fight both their rivals and the Government of 

24 Mexico, creating a dangerous and unstable situation 

25 on the southern border of the United States with inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048

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1 nocent people of the United States caught in the 

2 crossfire. 

3 (23) The chaos and calamity caused by Mexican 

4 cartels and other transnational criminal organiza5 tions at the southern border teeters on all-out war, 

6 with the Government of Mexico deploying more than 

7 200,000 Federal troops to fight the cartels, and even 

8 with that military presence, the kidnaping, decapita9 tions, and terror continue, including on and near 

10 United States soil. 

11 (24) According to statistics of the United Na12 tions, the homicide rate in the United States South13 ern Command’s Area of Responsibility was a stag14 gering 15.7 per 100,000 in 2020, out of a global av15 erage of 5.6 per 100,000, no doubt due to the vio16 lence of transnational criminal organizations in the 

17 region. 

18 (25) The Department of State has already rec19 ognized the reality of the terror caused by Mexican 

20 cartels, issuing its highest level of travel warning for 

21 all but 2 of Mexico’s 32 States due to increased 

22 threats of crime and kidnaping and having already 

23 named Colombia-based groups like the Revolutionary 

24 Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC– 

25 EP), Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048

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1 Segunda Marquetalia (FARC–SM), and the Na2 tional Liberation Army (ELN) as foreign terrorist 

3 organizations. 

4 (26) There are already known links between 

5 transnational criminal organizations and designated 

6 foreign terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah, 

7 al-Qaeda, Hamas, and the Islamic State. 

8 (27) Existing counter-narcotics efforts under 

9 the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 

10 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), focusing on financial sanc11 tions, and designating these organizations as foreign 

12 terrorist organizations are better methods for ad13 dressing the increasing violence and supply of deadly 

14 fentanyl and other drugs being shipped across the 

15 border. 

16 (28) Designating Mexican cartels and other 

17 transnational criminal organizations as foreign ter18 rorist organizations would enable— 

19 (A) the use of section 1010A of the Con20 trolled Substances Import and Export Act (21 

21 U.S.C. 960a) to prosecute drug traffickers asso22 ciated with these organizations for providing pe23 cuniary support to a foreign terrorist organiza24 tion; 


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1 (B) the use of section 2339B of title 18, 

2 United States Code, to prosecute anyone who 

3 knowingly provides material support or re4 sources to these organizations, including paying 

5 human traffickers or those who provide any 

6 logistical support or services to these organiza7 tions; 

8 (C) the use of such section 2339B to im9 pose civil penalties on any financial institution 

10 that fails to freeze and report any funds in 

11 which these organizations have any interest; 

12 and 

13 (D) through those statutes, the use of 

14 extraterritorial jurisdiction to target and pros15 ecute foreign nationals involved with Mexican 

16 cartels and other transnational criminal organi17 zations. 

18 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN DRUG CARTELS AS FOR19 EIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS. 

20 (a) DESIGNATIONS.—The following cartels, including 

21 any faction of such a cartel, associated forces, or subse22 quent groups, are hereby deemed to be foreign terrorist 

23 organizations pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189): 

25 (1) The Sinaloa Cartel. 


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1 (2) The Jalisco New Generation Cartel. 

2 (3) The Gulf Cartel. 

3 (4) The Los Zetas Cartel. 

4 (5) The Northeast Cartel. 

5 (6) The Juarez Cartel. 

6 (7) The Tijuana Cartel. 

7 (8) The Beltran-Leyva Cartel. 

8 (9) The La Familia Michoacana, also known as 

9 the Knight Templar Cartel. 

10 (b) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, the designation of any organization as a for12 eign terrorist organization under this section shall not pro13 vide a basis for any alien to obtain any withholding, defer14 ral, relief, or protection from removal of any kind. 

15 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO 

16 COMBAT MEXICAN CARTELS AND OTHER 

17 TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘agencies’’ has the 

20 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agencies’’ in sec21 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON23 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con24 gress’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

2 the Committee on the Judiciary, the Select 

3 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on 

4 Armed Services, the Committee on Finance, 

5 and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

6 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

8 Committee on the Judiciary, the Permanent Se9 lect Committee on Intelligence, the Committee 

10 on Armed Services, the Committee on Financial 

11 Services, and the Committee on Homeland Se12 curity of the House of Representatives. 

13 (3) TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZA14 TION.—The term ‘‘transnational criminal organiza15 tion’’ means a group of persons, such as those set 

16 forth under section 3(a), that includes— 

17 (A) one or more foreign persons; 

18 (B) that engages in an ongoing pattern of 

19 serious criminal activity involving the jurisdic20 tions of at least 2 foreign countries; and 

21 (C) that threatens the national security, 

22 foreign policy, or economy of the United States. 

23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of National In25 telligence shall establish an interagency task force on 


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1 combating Mexican cartels and other transnational 

2 criminal organizations. 

3 (2) DESIGNATION.—The task force established 

4 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Inter5 agency Task Force to Combat Mexican Cartels and 

6 Other Transnational Criminal Organizations’’ (in 

7 this section referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

8 (c) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall be com9 posed of the following, or their designees: 

10 (1) The Director of National Intelligence. 

11 (2) The Secretary of State. 

12 (3) The Secretary of Defense. 

13 (4) The Attorney General. 

14 (5) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

15 (6) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

16 (d) HEAD OF TASK FORCE.—The Director of Na17 tional Intelligence shall be the head of the Task Force. 

18 (e) PRIMARY MISSIONS.—The primary missions of 

19 the Task Force are as follows: 

20 (1) To eliminate the threat posed to the United 

21 States by Mexican cartels and other transnational 

22 criminal organizations, including any and all violence 

23 perpetrated by such groups against the United 

24 States or the citizens of the United States including 


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1 the threat posed by the distribution of controlled 

2 substances into the United States. 

3 (2) To serve as the primary organization in the 

4 United States Government for analyzing and inte5 grating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the 

6 United States Government pertaining to Mexican 

7 cartels and other transnational criminal organiza8 tions. 

9 (3) To conduct strategic international oper10 ational planning for activities to counter the Mexican 

11 cartels and other transnational criminal organiza12 tions, integrating all instruments of national power, 

13 including diplomatic, financial, military, intelligence, 

14 homeland security, and law enforcement activities 

15 within and among agencies. 

16 (4) To assign roles and responsibilities as part 

17 of its strategic operational planning duties to lead 

18 agencies, as appropriate, for activities to counter the 

19 Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal or20 ganizations that are consistent with applicable provi21 sions of law and that support strategic operational 

22 plans, but shall not direct the execution of any re23 sulting operations. 

24 (5) To ensure that agencies, as appropriate, 

25 have access to and receive all-source intelligence supVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048

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1 port needed to execute their plans or perform inde2 pendent, alternative analysis. 

3 (6) To ensure that such agencies have access to 

4 and receive intelligence needed to accomplish their 

5 assigned activities. 

6 (7) To serve as the central and shared knowl7 edge repository on known and suspected cartel or 

8 transnational criminal organization members, as well 

9 as their goals, strategies, capabilities, and networks 

10 of contacts and support. 

11 (f) INITIAL REPORT REQUIRED.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Task 

14 Force shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

15 Congress a detailed report regarding— 

16 (A) any other Mexican cartels, or factions 

17 of cartels, and transnational criminal organiza18 tions that should be designated as foreign ter19 rorist organizations under section 219 of the 

20 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

21 1189), including the criteria justifying each 

22 such designation; 

23 (B) any foreign organization which pro24 vides illicit services to Mexican cartels and 

25 transnational criminal organizations, including 


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1 controlled substance precursor chemicals and 

2 money laundering services, and whether they 

3 qualify as a foreign terrorist organization under 

4 section 219 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); 

5 (C) any current Government policy, law, or 

6 position that prevents the United States Gov7 ernment from accomplishing the goal of eradi8 cating the Mexican cartels and transnational 

9 criminal organizations, or stopping the flow of 

10 controlled substances into the United States; 

11 and 

12 (D) a detailed plan to expand the intel13 ligence gathering and sharing capability of the 

14 United States Government to eradicate the 

15 Mexican cartels and transnational criminal or16 ganizations, including any steps that Congress 

17 must take to streamline this intelligence proc18 ess. 

19 (2) FORM.—The report submitted under para20 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

21 but may include a classified annex. 

Æ 


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