Kustoff bill targets financing of illegal opioid trade

Republican U.S. Rep. David Kustoff (R-Memphis) is applauding the passage of his bill targeting the financial networks supporting the illegal drug trade and the opioid epidemic sweeping the country.

The National Strategy for Combating the Financing of Transnational Criminal Organizations Act (H.R. 4768) passed unanimously on Tuesday.

“In order to defeat these criminal organizations, we must track down their financial networks and cut them off at the source,” Kutoff said in a release.

Read the full release below:

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative David Kustoff (TN-08), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, today applauded unanimous passage of his bill, the National Strategy for Combating the Financing of Transnational Criminal Organizations Act (H.R. 4768). This legislation directs the U.S. Department of Treasury to develop a national strategy for tracking down and eliminating the illicit financial networks of cartels and transnational criminal organizations – groups that are responsible, in large part, for drug trafficking and the escalating opioid epidemic in America.

“With the opioid epidemic sweeping across the nation, it is time to implement a bold strategy for combating the dangerous cartels that traffic drugs into our communities,” said Congressman Kustoff. “In order to defeat these criminal organizations, we must track down their financial networks and cut them off at the source. I fought drug trafficking as a U.S. attorney, and now, I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to put an end to the destructive financial crimes committed by transnational criminal organizations.”

The Congressman’s bill is a response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13773 on “Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking” which was introduced on February 9, 2017. The Executive Order recognizes that transnational criminal organizations – mostly through transnational drug cartels – have infiltrated our country and continue to threaten American safety and security.

This legislation directs the Treasury Department to work in coordination with the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and produce a yearly report outlining a strategy for the U.S. government to prevent these financial crimes.