Ending the NARCOS Act of 2023

Subjects: International Affairs


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1048 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ending the Notorious, Aggressive, 
and Remorseless Criminal Organizations and Syndicates Act of 2023'' or 
the ``Ending the NARCOS Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The national security of the United States, along with 
        the health and safety of the citizens of the United States, is 
        under attack by Mexican cartels and other transnational 
        criminal organizations that engage in acts of terrorism to 
        exploit the borders of the United States and further their 
        unlawful business of producing and importing illicitly 
        manufactured fentanyl, a substance that kills hundreds of 
        thousands of people in the United States each year, 
        methamphetamine, and other controlled substances.
            (2) Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times 
        stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and 
        some fentanyl-related substances can have even greater potency.
            (3) Although pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by 
        doctors to treat severe pain, illicitly manufactured fentanyl 
        and fentanyl-related substances are created using precursor 
        chemicals that are predominantly imported from China and 
        distributed through illegal drug markets, most commonly by 
        Mexican cartels across the southern border.
            (4) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, nearly 110,000 people in the United States died 
        during fiscal year 2022 from drug overdoses.
            (5) Approximately 66 percent of those deaths in fiscal year 
        2022 related to illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
            (6) In December 2022, the Washington Post reported that, 
        from 2019 to 2021, fatal fentanyl overdoses surged 94 percent 
        and an estimated 196 people in the United States are now dying 
        each day from the drug, which is the equivalent of a fully 
        loaded Boeing 757-200 crashing and killing everyone on board 
        every day.
            (7) The single largest loss of life resulting from a 
        foreign attack on United States soil was the September 11 
        terrorist attacks, which killed 2,977 people, and fentanyl 
        overdoses cause the equivalent of a new September 11 nearly 
        every 2 weeks.
            (8) In fiscal year 2022, the United States suffered more 
        fentanyl-related deaths than gun- and auto-related deaths 
        combined.
            (9) Illicit fentanyl is now the number one cause of death 
        among people in the United States between the ages of 18 and 
        45.
            (10) A 2017 analysis, accounting for the costs of health 
        care, criminal justice, lost productivity and social and family 
        services, estimated that the total cost of the drug epidemic of 
        the United States facilitated by Mexican cartels and other 
        transnational criminal organizations was more than 
        $1,000,000,000,000 annually, or 5 percent of gross domestic 
        product.
            (11) Law enforcement and immigration officers report that 
        smugglers evade apprehension and successfully bring large 
        quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other illicit 
        drugs into the United States.
            (12) Despite seizures both at and between ports of entry, 
        like the recent seizure by U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
        of nearly 54 pounds of fentanyl pills and 32 pounds of 
        methamphetamine at the Andrade Port of Entry, domestic supply 
        of these controlled substances indicate a massive amount of 
        controlled substances are still pouring across our border.
            (13) The Federal Government possesses unutilized resources 
        and lawful measures to combat the cartels through the 
        designation of those groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
            (14) Foreign terrorist organizations are foreign 
        organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in 
        accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
            (15) The designation of organizations as foreign terrorist 
        organizations plays a critical role in the fight against 
        terrorism and is an effective means of curtailing support for 
        terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the 
        terrorism business because such a designation gives law 
        enforcement agencies and prosecutors greater powers to freeze 
        the assets of an organization, to deny members of the 
        organization entry into the United States, and to seek tougher 
        punishments against those who provide material support to the 
        organization.
            (16) Under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), the Secretary of State may designate an 
        organization as a foreign terrorist organization if--
                    (A) the organization is a foreign organization;
                    (B) the organization engages in terrorist activity 
                or terrorism, or retains the capability and intent to 
                engage in terrorist activity or terrorism; and
                    (C) the terrorist activity or terrorism of the 
                organization threatens the security of United States 
                nationals or the national security of the United 
                States.
            (17) Mexican cartels satisfy each of those three criteria, 
        as they are foreign organizations based outside the United 
        States, they engage in ``terrorist activity'' such as 
        assassinations, kidnaping, or use of explosives and firearms, 
        and their terrorist activities threaten the security of the 
        United States and the people of the United States.
            (18) For instance, four United States citizens, including 3 
        people from South Carolina, were recently kidnaped by Mexican 
        drug cartels in Matamoros, Mexico, where at least 2 were 
        tragically killed in cartel violence.
            (19) Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal 
        organizations, as foreign organizations, make billions of 
        dollars each year importing deadly drugs into the United 
        States, especially fentanyl and methamphetamine, which results 
        in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the United 
        States each year.
            (20) United States Southern Command reports that criminal 
        organizations, including drug cartels, in their Area of 
        Responsibility generate an estimated annual revenue of 
        approximately $300,000,000,000 more than 5-times the combined 
        defense budget for the region, including Mexico.
            (21) The death and destruction caused by the illicit drug 
        trade is not limited to overdoses and gang violence, rather, it 
        extends to a significant proportion of nearly all other 
        criminal activity in the United States, including burglary, 
        carjacking, robbery, aggravated assault, domestic violence, 
        felony traffic violations, and much more, and it also extends 
        to drug addictions that often result in homelessness, suicide, 
        human trafficking, child sex trafficking, broken families, 
        birth defects, and other maladies that are devastating 
        communities across the United States.
            (22) The national security threat posed by Mexican cartels 
        and other transnational criminal organizations extends beyond 
        the sale of fentanyl and other drugs, as these organizations 
        have also shown a lethal willingness to protect their business 
        by any means necessary, including organizing Armed Forces to 
        fight both their rivals and the Government of Mexico, creating 
        a dangerous and unstable situation on the southern border of 
        the United States with innocent people of the United States 
        caught in the crossfire.
            (23) The chaos and calamity caused by Mexican cartels and 
        other transnational criminal organizations at the southern 
        border teeters on all-out war, with the Government of Mexico 
        deploying more than 200,000 Federal troops to fight the 
        cartels, and even with that military presence, the kidnaping, 
        decapitations, and terror continue, including on and near 
        United States soil.
            (24) According to statistics of the United Nations, the 
        homicide rate in the United States Southern Command's Area of 
        Responsibility was a staggering 15.7 per 100,000 in 2020, out 
        of a global average of 5.6 per 100,000, no doubt due to the 
        violence of transnational criminal organizations in the region.
            (25) The Department of State has already recognized the 
        reality of the terror caused by Mexican cartels, issuing its 
        highest level of travel warning for all but 2 of Mexico's 32 
        States due to increased threats of crime and kidnaping and 
        having already named Colombia-based groups like the 
        Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), 
        Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Segunda Marquetalia 
        (FARC-SM), and the National Liberation Army (ELN) as foreign 
        terrorist organizations.
            (26) There are already known links between transnational 
        criminal organizations and designated foreign terrorist 
        organizations, such as Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, Hamas, and the 
        Islamic State.
            (27) Existing counter-narcotics efforts under the Foreign 
        Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), 
        focusing on financial sanctions, and designating these 
        organizations as foreign terrorist organizations are better 
        methods for addressing the increasing violence and supply of 
        deadly fentanyl and other drugs being shipped across the 
        border.
            (28) Designating Mexican cartels and other transnational 
        criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations would 
        enable--
                    (A) the use of section 1010A of the Controlled 
                Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960a) to 
                prosecute drug traffickers associated with these 
                organizations for providing pecuniary support to a 
                foreign terrorist organization;
                    (B) the use of section 2339B of title 18, United 
                States Code, to prosecute anyone who knowingly provides 
                material support or resources to these organizations, 
                including paying human traffickers or those who provide 
                any logistical support or services to these 
                organizations;
                    (C) the use of such section 2339B to impose civil 
                penalties on any financial institution that fails to 
                freeze and report any funds in which these 
                organizations have any interest; and
                    (D) through those statutes, the use of 
                extraterritorial jurisdiction to target and prosecute 
                foreign nationals involved with Mexican cartels and 
                other transnational criminal organizations.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN DRUG CARTELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Designations.--The following cartels, including any faction of 
such a cartel, associated forces, or subsequent groups, are hereby 
deemed to be foreign terrorist organizations pursuant to section 219 of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189):
            (1) The Sinaloa Cartel.
            (2) The Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
            (3) The Gulf Cartel.
            (4) The Los Zetas Cartel.
            (5) The Northeast Cartel.
            (6) The Juarez Cartel.
            (7) The Tijuana Cartel.
            (8) The Beltran-Leyva Cartel.
            (9) The La Familia Michoacana, also known as the Knight 
        Templar Cartel.
    (b) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
designation of any organization as a foreign terrorist organization 
under this section shall not provide a basis for any alien to obtain 
any withholding, deferral, relief, or protection from removal of any 
kind.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO COMBAT MEXICAN 
              CARTELS AND OTHER TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agencies.--The term ``agencies'' has the meaning given 
        the term ``Executive agencies'' in section 105 of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on the Judiciary, the Select Committee on 
                Intelligence, the Committee on Armed Services, the 
                Committee on Finance, and the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on the Judiciary, the Permanent Select Committee on 
                Intelligence, the Committee on Armed Services, the 
                Committee on Financial Services, and the Committee on 
                Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.
            (3) Transnational criminal organization.--The term 
        ``transnational criminal organization'' means a group of 
        persons, such as those set forth under section 3(a), that 
        includes--
                    (A) one or more foreign persons;
                    (B) that engages in an ongoing pattern of serious 
                criminal activity involving the jurisdictions of at 
                least 2 foreign countries; and
                    (C) that threatens the national security, foreign 
                policy, or economy of the United States.
    (b) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of National Intelligence 
        shall establish an interagency task force on combating Mexican 
        cartels and other transnational criminal organizations.
            (2) Designation.--The task force established under 
        paragraph (1) shall be known as the ``Interagency Task Force to 
        Combat Mexican Cartels and Other Transnational Criminal 
        Organizations'' (in this section referred to as the ``Task 
        Force'').
    (c) Composition.--The Task Force shall be composed of the 
following, or their designees:
            (1) The Director of National Intelligence.
            (2) The Secretary of State.
            (3) The Secretary of Defense.
            (4) The Attorney General.
            (5) The Secretary of Homeland Security.
            (6) The Secretary of the Treasury.
    (d) Head of Task Force.--The Director of National Intelligence 
shall be the head of the Task Force.
    (e) Primary Missions.--The primary missions of the Task Force are 
as follows:
            (1) To eliminate the threat posed to the United States by 
        Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal organizations, 
        including any and all violence perpetrated by such groups 
        against the United States or the citizens of the United States 
        including the threat posed by the distribution of controlled 
        substances into the United States.
            (2) To serve as the primary organization in the United 
        States Government for analyzing and integrating all 
        intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States 
        Government pertaining to Mexican cartels and other 
        transnational criminal organizations.
            (3) To conduct strategic international operational planning 
        for activities to counter the Mexican cartels and other 
        transnational criminal organizations, integrating all 
        instruments of national power, including diplomatic, financial, 
        military, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement 
        activities within and among agencies.
            (4) To assign roles and responsibilities as part of its 
        strategic operational planning duties to lead agencies, as 
        appropriate, for activities to counter the Mexican cartels and 
        other transnational criminal organizations that are consistent 
        with applicable provisions of law and that support strategic 
        operational plans, but shall not direct the execution of any 
        resulting operations.
            (5) To ensure that agencies, as appropriate, have access to 
        and receive all-source intelligence support needed to execute 
        their plans or perform independent, alternative analysis.
            (6) To ensure that such agencies have access to and receive 
        intelligence needed to accomplish their assigned activities.
            (7) To serve as the central and shared knowledge repository 
        on known and suspected cartel or transnational criminal 
        organization members, as well as their goals, strategies, 
        capabilities, and networks of contacts and support.
    (f) Initial Report Required.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Task Force shall submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress a detailed report 
        regarding--
                    (A) any other Mexican cartels, or factions of 
                cartels, and transnational criminal organizations that 
                should be designated as foreign terrorist organizations 
                under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 
                Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), including the criteria justifying 
                each such designation;
                    (B) any foreign organization which provides illicit 
                services to Mexican cartels and transnational criminal 
                organizations, including controlled substance precursor 
                chemicals and money laundering services, and whether 
                they qualify as a foreign terrorist organization under 
                section 219 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1189);
                    (C) any current Government policy, law, or position 
                that prevents the United States Government from 
                accomplishing the goal of eradicating the Mexican 
                cartels and transnational criminal organizations, or 
                stopping the flow of controlled substances into the 
                United States; and
                    (D) a detailed plan to expand the intelligence 
                gathering and sharing capability of the United States 
                Government to eradicate the Mexican cartels and 
                transnational criminal organizations, including any 
                steps that Congress must take to streamline this 
                intelligence process.
            (2) Form.--The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall 
        be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
        annex.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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