Ending the NARCOS Act of 2023

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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Ending the Notorious, Aggressive, and Remorseless Criminal Organizations and Syndicates Act of 2023 Ending the NARCOS Act of 2023 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 (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 (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. (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 (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. 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. 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 Executive agencies (2) Appropriate committees of Congress The term appropriate committees of Congress (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 (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 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 (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.

Summary: Ending the Notorious, Aggressive, and Remorseless Criminal Organizations and Syndicates Act of 2023 or the Ending the NARCOS Act of 2023 This bill designates nine specified drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. (Among other things, such a designation allows the Department of the Treasury to require financial institutions to block transactions involving the organization.) The bill also requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to establish an interagency task force on combating Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal organizations.