SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Illicit Captagon Traf-
ficking Suppression Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Industrial scale production of the amphet-
amine-type stimulant also known as captagon, and 
the illicit production of precursor chemicals, in terri-
tories held by the regime of President Bashar al 
Assad in Syria are becoming more sophisticated and 
pose a severe challenge to regional and international 
security. 
(2) Elements of the Government of Syria are 
key drivers of illicit trafficking in captagon, with 
ministerial-level complicity in production and smug-
gling, using other armed groups such as Hizballah 
for technical and logistical support in captagon pro-
duction and trafficking. 
(3) As affiliates of the Government of Syria and 
other actors seek to export captagon, they under-
mine regional security by empowering a broad range 
of criminal networks, militant groups, mafia syn-
dicates, and autocratic governments. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to target individ-
uals, entities, and networks associated with the Govern-
ment of Syria to dismantle and degrade the transnational 
criminal organizations, including narcotics trafficking net-
works, associated with the regime of President Bashar al 
Assad in Syria and Hizballah. 
SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IL-
LICIT CAPTAGON TRAFFICKING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in sub-
section (b) shall be imposed with respect to any foreign 
person the President determines, on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act— 
(1) engages in, or attempts to engage in, activi-
ties or transactions that have materially contributed 
to, or pose a significant risk of materially contrib-
uting to, the illicit production and international il-
licit proliferation of captagon; or 
(2) knowingly receives any property or interest 
in property that the foreign person knows— 
(A) constitutes or is derived from proceeds 
of activities or transactions that have materially 
contributed to, or pose a significant risk of ma-
terially contributing to, the illicit production 
and 
international 
illicit 
proliferation 
of 
captagon; or 
(B) was used or intended to be used to 
commit or to facilitate activities or transactions
that have materially contributed to, or pose a 
significant risk of materially contributing to, 
the illicit production and international illicit 
proliferation of captagon. 
(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
scribed in this subsection are the following: 
(1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 
shall exercise all authorities granted under the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block 
and prohibit all transactions in property and inter-
ests in property of the foreign person if such prop-
erty and interests in property are in the United 
States, come within the United States, or come with-
in the possession or control of a United States per-
son. 
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR 
PAROLE.— 
(A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 
alien described in subsection (a) shall be— 
(i) inadmissible to the United States; 
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
documentation to enter the United States; 
and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
or paroled into the United States or to re-
ceive any other benefit under the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 
seq.). 
(B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The visa or other 
entry documentation of any alien described 
in subsection (a) is subject to revocation 
regardless of the issue date of the visa or 
other entry documentation. 
(ii) IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.—A revoca-
tion under clause (i) shall, in accordance 
with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i))— 
(I) take effect immediately; and 
(II) cancel any other valid visa or 
entry documentation that is in the 
possession of the alien. 
(c) PENALTIES.—Any person that violates, or at-
tempts to violate, subsection (b) or any regulation, license, 
or order issued pursuant to that subsection, shall be sub-
ject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) 
of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a per-
son that commits an unlawful act described in subsection 
(a) of that section. 
(d) WAIVER.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The President may waive 
the application of sanctions under this section with 
respect to a foreign person only if, not later than 15 
days prior to the date on which the waiver is to take 
effect, the President submits to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a written determination and 
justification that the waiver is important to the na-
tional security interests of the United States. 
(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 60 days after 
the issuance of a waiver under paragraph (1), and 
every 180 days thereafter while the waiver remains 
in effect, the President shall brief the appropriate 
congressional committees on the reasons for the 
waiver. 
(e) HUMANITARIAN WAIVER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive, 
for renewable periods not to exceed 2 years, the ap-
plication of sanctions with respect to a nongovern-
mental organization providing humanitarian assist-
ance if the President certifies to the appropriate 
congressional committees that such a waiver is im-
portant to address a humanitarian need and is con-
sistent with the national security interests of the 
United States. 
(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after 
the issuance of a waiver under paragraph (1), and 
every 180 days thereafter while the waiver remains 
in effect, the President shall brief the appropriate 
congressional committees on the reasons for the 
waiver. 
(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may exercise 
all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section. 
(g) REGULATIONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The President shall, not 
later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, promulgate regulations as necessary for 
the implementation of this section. 
(2) NOTIFICATION
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 10 days before the promulgation of regulations 
under this subsection, the President shall notify the 
appropriate congressional committees of the pro-
posed regulations and the provisions of this section 
that the regulations are implementing. 
(h) EXCEPTIONS.—
(1) EXCEPTION
FOR
INTELLIGENCE
ACTIVI-
TIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not apply 
to any activity subject to the reporting requirements 
under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 
(50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intel-
ligence activities of the United States. 
(2) EXCEPTION
TO
COMPLY
WITH
INTER-
NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT
ACTIVITIES.—Sanctions under this section 
shall not apply with respect to an alien if admitting 
or paroling the alien into the United States is nec-
essary— 
(A) to permit the United States to comply 
with the Agreement regarding the Head-
quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 
Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 
November 21, 1947, between the United Na-
tions and the United States, or other applicable 
international obligations; or 
(B) to carry out or assist authorized law 
enforcement activity in the United States. 
(i) EXCEPTION RELATING TO THE IMPORTATION OF 
GOODS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require-
ments under this section shall not include the au-
thority or a requirement to impose sanctions on the 
importation of goods. 
(2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade sub-
stance, material, supply, or manufactured product, 
including inspection and test equipment, and exclud-
ing technical data. 
SEC. 5. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE GOVERN-
MENT OF SYRIA, HIZBALLAH, AND NETWORKS 
AFFILIATED WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF 
SYRIA OR HIZBALLAH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall— 
(1) determine whether each foreign person de-
scribed in subsection (b) meets the criteria for sanc-
tions under this Act; and 
(2) submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report containing— 
(A) a list of all foreign persons described 
in subsection (b) that meet the criteria for im-
position of sanctions under this Act; 
(B) for each foreign person identified pur-
suant to subparagraph (A), a statement of 
whether sanctions have been imposed or will be
imposed within 30 days of the submission of the 
report; and 
(C) with respect to any person identified 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) for whom sanc-
tions have not been imposed and will not be im-
posed within 30 days of the submission of the 
report, the specific authority under which other-
wise applicable sanctions are being waived, have 
otherwise been determined not to apply, or are 
not being imposed and a complete justification 
of the decision to waive or otherwise not apply 
such sanctions. 
(b) FOREIGN PERSONS DESCRIBED.—The foreign 
persons described in this subsection are the following: 
(1) Maher Al Assad. 
(2) Imad Abu Zureiq. 
(3) Amer Taysir Khiti. 
(4) Taher al-Kayyali. 
(5) Raji Falhout. 
(6) Mohammed Asif Issa Shalish. 
(7) Abdellatif Hamid. 
(8) Mustafa Al Masalmeh. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act:
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs, and the Committee on the Judi-
ciary of the Senate. 
(2) CAPTAGON.—The term ‘‘captagon’’ means 
any compound, mixture, or preparation which con-
tains any quantity of a stimulant in schedule I or II 
of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 812), including— 
(A) amphetamine, methamphetamine, and 
fenethylline; 
(B) any immediate precursor or controlled 
substance analogue of such a stimulant, as de-
fined in section 102 of the Controlled Sub-
stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); and 
(C) any isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and 
salts of isomers, esters, and ethers of such a 
stimulant, whenever the existence of such iso-
mers, esters, ethers, and salts is possible within 
the specific chemical designation. 
(3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
son’’— 
(A) means an individual or entity that is 
not a United States person; and 
(B) includes a foreign state (as such term 
is defined in section 1603 of title 28, United 
States Code). 
(4) ILLICIT PROLIFERATION.—The term ‘‘illicit 
proliferation’’ refers to any illicit activity to produce, 
manufacture, distribute, sell, or knowingly finance or 
transport. 
(5) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 14 of the 
Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–172; 
50 U.S.C. 1701 note). 
(6) 
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The 
term 
‘‘United States person’’ means— 
(A) a United States citizen; 
(B) a permanent resident alien of the 
United States; 
(C) an entity organized under the laws of 
the United States or of any jurisdiction within
the United States, including a foreign branch of 
such an entity; or 
(D) a person in the United States. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 2024. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4681 
AN ACT 
To provide for the imposition of sanctions with 
respect to illicit captagon trafficking.