IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6265 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To require a strategy by the United States Government 

to disrupt and dismantle the Captagon trade and narcotics networks of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Assad’s 

3 Proliferation Trafficking And Garnering Of Narcotics 

4 Act’’ or the ‘‘CAPTAGON Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY STRATEGY TO DISRUPT AND DIS6 MANTLE NARCOTICS PRODUCTION AND 

7 TRAFFICKING AND AFFILIATED NETWORKS 

8 LINKED TO THE REGIME OF BASHAR AL9 ASSAD IN SYRIA. 

10 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that— 

12 (1) the Captagon trade linked to the regime of 

13 Bashar al-Assad in Syria is a transnational security 

14 threat; and 

15 (2) the United States should develop and imple16 ment an interagency strategy to deny, degrade, and 

17 dismantle Assad-linked narcotics production and 

18 trafficking networks. 

19 (b) REPORT AND STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later 

20 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

21 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Sec22 retary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the Drug En23 forcement Administration, the Director of National Intel24 ligence, and the heads of other appropriate Federal agen25 cies shall provide to the appropriate congressional commit26 tees a written strategy to disrupt and dismantle narcotics 


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1 production and trafficking and affiliated networks linked 

2 to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Such strategy 

3 shall include each of the following: 

4 (1) A strategy to target, disrupt, and degrade 

5 networks that directly or indirectly support the nar6 cotics infrastructure of the Assad regime, particu7 larly through diplomatic and intelligence support to 

8 law enforcement investigations and to build counter9 narcotics capacity to partner countries through as10 sistance and training to law enforcement services in 

11 countries, other than Syria, that are receiving or 

12 transiting large quantities of Captagon. 

13 (2) Information relating to the use of statutory 

14 authorities, including the Caesar Syria Civilian Pro15 tection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 8791 note), the For16 eign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (popularly 

17 referred to as the ‘‘Kingpin Act’’), section 489 of the 

18 Foreign Assistance Act (relating to the international 

19 narcotics control strategy report), and associated ac20 tions to target individuals and entities directly or in21 directly associated with the narcotics infrastructure 

22 of the Assad regime. 

23 (3) Information relating to the use of global 

24 diplomatic engagements associated with the ecoVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6265.RFS H6265

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1 nomic pressure campaign against the Assad regime 

2 to target its narcotics infrastructure. 

3 (4) A strategy for leveraging multilateral insti4 tutions and cooperation with international partners 

5 to disrupt the narcotics infrastructure of the Assad 

6 regime. 

7 (5) A strategy for mobilizing a public commu8 nications campaign to increase awareness of the ex9 tent of the connection of the Assad regime to illicit 

10 narcotics trade. 

11 (6) A description of the countries receiving or 

12 transiting large shipments of Captagon, and an as13 sessment of the counter-narcotics capacity of such 

14 countries to interdict or disrupt the smuggling of 

15 Captagon, including an assessment of current 

16 United States assistance and training programs to 

17 build such capacity in such countries. 

18 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required under 

19 subsection (b) shall be submitted in an unclassified form, 

20 but may contain a classified annex. 

21 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

22 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

25 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on ForVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6265.RFS H6265

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1 eign Affairs, the Committee on Financial Services, 

2 the Committee on Appropriations, and the Perma3 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 

4 of Representatives; and 

5 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

6 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on For7 eign Relations, the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

8 and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Appropria9 tions, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

10 the Senate. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 20, 

2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 

By KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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