Hezbollah Kingpin Designation Act

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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Hezbollah Kingpin Designation Act 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Since 2010, Lebanese-based Hezbollah has been linked with South American drug trafficking organizations. (2) The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Project Cassandra (3) On January 11, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of the Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team to investigate individuals and networks providing support to Hezbollah’s narcoterrorist activities. (4) Michael Braun testified before the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, on June 8, 2016, that hundreds of tons of cocaine, over [a] 15-year period and move massive amounts of currency, hundreds of, millions, perhaps billions of dollars in currency around the world in the most sophisticated money laundering scheme that we have ever witnessed (5) In 2011, the Drug Enforcement Administration indicted Ayman Saied Joumaa, a Lebanese-Colombian dual national, for using a global network of companies operating out of Latin America, West Africa, and Lebanon to launder as much as $200,000,000 a month in drug proceeds for Mexican and Colombian cartels. (6) The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3329, the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, on October 25, 2017, to provide additional resources to enforcement agencies to counter Hezbollah’s other criminal enterprises including money laundering. 3. Designations required (a) Kingpin designation Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall, in accordance with the requirements for additional determinations under section 804(h)(1) of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 ( 21 U.S.C. 1903(h)(1) significant foreign narcotics trafficker (b) Transnational criminal organization designation Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress a determination whether to designate Hezbollah as a transnational criminal organization 4. Asset report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the Committees on Financial Services and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Senate containing an estimate of the total assets under direct or indirect control by Hezbollah-linked leaders of political parties or movements who are located in the United States.

Summary: Hezbollah Kingpin Designation Act This bill directs the President to: (1) determine whether Hezbollah is a significant foreign narcotics trafficker, and (2) submit to Congress a determination whether to designate Hezbollah as a transnational criminal organization for purposes of the Office of Foreign Assets' list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons. Such designations subject an entity to economic and entry sanctions, including freezing of U.S.-based property and property interests. The Department of the Treasury shall report to Congress with an estimate of the total assets controlled by Hezbollah-linked leaders of political parties or movements in the United States.