I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5266 
To require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to develop and implement 
a strategy to interdict fentanyl and other synthetic drugs in the mail 
at Federal correctional facilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 25, 2023 
Mr. BACON (for himself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 
PAPPAS, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to develop 
and implement a strategy to interdict fentanyl and other 
synthetic drugs in the mail at Federal correctional facili-
ties. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interdiction of 
Fentanyl in Postal Mail at Federal Prisons Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Bureau of Prisons has 122 institutions 
located throughout the United States, employs near-
ly 38,000 employees, and is responsible for more 
than 150,000 Federal inmates. 
(2) Inmate mail is a primary entry point for 
smuggling drugs into correctional facilities, with 
tainted mail incidents also on the rise. 
(3) Elimination of dangerous contraband, in-
cluding synthetic drugs, in mail is essential to pro-
tecting the health and safety of employees of the Bu-
reau of Prisons and Federal inmates. 
(4) Prisons in the United States are increas-
ingly deadly facilities, with a 600 percent rise in 
drug overdoses in recent years. 
(5) The introduction of synthetic drugs, par-
ticularly fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, into cor-
rectional facilities by mail threatens employees, in-
mates, and the security of correctional institutions, 
and the practice of deliberately lacing opioids to en-
sure targeted lethality represents a dramatic emerg-
ing concern. 
(6) The foregoing factors add tremendous pres-
sures and workload that further burden existing em-
ployees, commonly reassigning officers from other 
functions to assist in processing mail. 
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(1) The term ‘‘opioid’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 102 of the Controlled Sub-
stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 
(2) The term ‘‘synthetic drug’’ means a con-
trolled substance analogue (as such term is defined 
in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 802), and includes any analogue of fentanyl. 
SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO INTERDICT SYNTHETIC DRUGS IN 
POSTAL MAIL. 
(a) EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau 
of Prisons (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Director’’) shall 
evaluate— 
(1) Federal correctional facilities’ acquisition 
and deployment of synthetic drug interdiction equip-
ment; 
(2) Federal correctional facilities’ use of tech-
nology services to scan mail; and 
(3) whether any technologies used by other 
Federal agencies to intercept and interdict contra-
band in the mail may be used by the Bureau of Pris-
ons. 
(b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after com-
pleting the evaluation under subsection (a), the Director 
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen-
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ate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives a strategy to provide all Federal correc-
tional facilities with capabilities necessary to— 
(1) protect staff and inmates from exposure to 
synthetic drugs and opioids introduced to facilities 
through the mail; 
(2) ensure that— 
(A) not later than 24 hours after a piece 
of mail is received at a Federal corrections fa-
cility, each inmate receives a digital copy of any 
mail that is addressed to the inmate; 
(B) not later than 30 days after receiving 
a digital copy of a piece of mail under subpara-
graph (A), the inmate receives the original 
physical copy of any mail that— 
(i) does not contain synthetic drugs or 
opioids; and 
(ii) is addressed to the inmate; and 
(C) delivery to the inmate under subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) is documented; and 
(3) achieve 100 percent scanning capacity of 
mail arriving at all Federal correction facilities. 
(c) CONTENTS.—The strategy required under sub-
section (b) shall— 
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(1) identify critical information technology, dig-
ital mail scanning equipment, and mail scanning 
services necessary to achieve the scanning capacity 
described in subsection (b)(3); 
(2) include an assessment of operational and 
logistical considerations, including— 
(A) prioritization of high security and 
large inmate population facilities for digital 
mail scanning infrastructure and security tech-
nology deployment; 
(B) any need for additional personnel and 
technology training necessary to implement the 
strategy; and 
(C) scanning equipment maintenance re-
quirements and periodic digital technology up-
grades; and 
(3) include an equipment and technology budg-
etary proposal, for fiscal years 2024 though 2026, in 
order to fully implement the strategy described 
under subsection (b). 
(d) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Beginning 1 
year after the date on which the strategy is submitted 
under subsection (b), and each year thereafter, the Direc-
tor of the Bureau of Prisons shall submit to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 
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on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report 
on the efficiency of the strategy and the total quantity 
of detected synthetic drugs and opioids. 
Æ 
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