President Biden signs Cortez Masto’s bipartisan legislation to stop illegal drug financing

Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have announced that President Joe Biden will The prevention of the Illicit Synthetic Drug Financing Act into law. This law will help the federal government financially crack down on organizations that smuggle synthetic drugs like fentanyl into the United States.

“Fentanyl has killed too many of our loved ones across the country, which is why I am proud the President has signed my bipartisan legislation to target the transnational drug trafficking networks that smuggle deadly synthetic drugs into our communities.” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This bill will help stop drug cartels by improving our understanding of how they finance their illegal operations. I will always work together to keep Nevadans safe.”

“Fentanyl is an unprecedented crisis that continues to claim the lives of innocent children and adults in our country, and we must fight it at all levels,” said Senator Cornyn“This bill will help law enforcement better understand the illicit financing and business models of drug trafficking organizations, increasing our chances of defeating them and saving American lives.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 107,000 people in the United States will die from drug overdoses in 2023, nearly 75,000 of which will be from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. The prevention of the Illicit Synthetic Drug Financing Act will direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the illicit financing of the synthetic drug trade and brief Congress in detail on the business model of these organizations, how they move and hide their illicit revenue, and what the U.S. government can do to better prevent fentanyl money laundering.

Senator Cortez Masto has been committed to combating illegal drugs since her time as Nevada’s Attorney General, when she worked with law enforcement and Mexican officials to combat the rise of methamphetamine production and cross-border drug trafficking. In the Senate, she introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to combat the illegal use of xylazine and authored legislation to combat online drug trafficking that was signed into law, as well as crucial legislation to address the opioid epidemic.

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