Cassidy leads bipartisan call for GAO review of federal drug trafficking law

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Jan. 4 joined three colleagues in calling for a review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) of a federal law that slaps sanctions on foreign narcotics traffickers and their criminal organizations.

“The ongoing opioid epidemic highlights the urgency for Congress to consider all means available to combat the production and trafficking of illicit narcotics and precursor chemicals, which are on the rise in many Western Hemisphere countries,” wrote Sen. Cassidy, along with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and U.S. Reps. Paul Cook (R-CA) and Albio Sires (D-NJ), in a Jan. 4 letter to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro asking for the GAO review.

“Illicit drugs have caused many American deaths and contributed to horrible violence in our communities,” the lawmakers wrote. “Six of the top ten countries with the highest murder rates in the world this year are in the Western Hemisphere.”

The members want the GAO to conduct an impact study that reviews the effectiveness of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, also known as the Kingpin Act. The U.S. international narcotics trafficking bill, which became law in 1999, applies economic and other financial sanctions to such drug traffickers around the world, including blocking a designated person or group’s property and assets, prohibiting U.S. transactions, and denying U.S. visas, among other criminal and civil penalties.

The letter noted that since the Kingpin Act’s enactment, there hasn’t been a comprehensive examination of the law’s effectiveness apart from a 2001 report from the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Assets Control.

“Since that time, criminal networks have adapted to U.S. and regional counternarcotic actions, and Kingpin has been applied more globally,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers asked GAO to consider improvements to information sharing between the U.S. Departments of Treasury, State, and Justice and U.S. interaction with foreign government partners; to study the Kingpin Act’s effect on trafficking and on drug flow in the Western Hemisphere, and include ways to improve the law’s implementation and statutory authorities; and to consider the value of multiple U.S. criminal designations for helping U.S. and foreign partners in bringing criminal charges.

“Kingpin sanctions also affect U.S. businesses, increasing their operating costs,” the letter said. “Thus, it is essential to consider lessons learned in the Western Hemisphere to ensure that Kingpin achieves its intended impact, is coordinated with other U.S. counternarcotic tools, does not unduly burden U.S. businesses, and leads to lasting results.”

Since Kingpin’s enactment, it has led to sanctions against hundreds of individuals and entities, according to the letter, including, as of October 2017, 915 individuals, 831 entities, and one aircraft. Among them, 110 represented the most significant threat, and out of those, 65 individuals and 16 organizations were linked to countries in the Western Hemisphere.