WASHINGTON—The Stop Fentanyl Money Laundering Act has advanced out of the House Financial Services Committee.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), the chair of the National Security, Illicit Finance and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee, targets money laundering surrounding fentanyl trafficking and seeks to provide streamlined reporting processes to allow law enforcement to crack down on narcotics trafficking, Financial Regulation News reported.
“Fentanyl is a poison that has devastated too many communities in Missouri and across the country,” Luetkemeyer said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is also a very profitable business for drug producers and traffickers. Mexican cartels and their Chinese suppliers make billions of dollars selling the deadly drugs in the U.S. and take advantage of our laws to launder their profits. By allowing the Treasury Department to utilize its special measure authorities to target and thwart the money laundering that facilitates fentanyl trafficking in foreign jurisdiction, the Stop Fentanyl Money Laundering Act provides the tools to end the financial incentive for the mass murder of millions of Americans.”
‘Special Measure Authority’
The legislation would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to use its special measure authority to target money laundering, and would give law enforcement streamlined and updated Suspicious Activity Reports that would allow officers to “follow the money” of the drug trade, Financial Regulation News said.
The bill would require FinCEN to provide critical information on how useful the SAR updates are, Financial Regulation News said.
“The illicit fentanyl trade is a multi-billion dollar industry. Chinese drug makers and money launderers are partnered with Mexican drug cartels to make enormous profits off the mass murder of Americans,” Luetkemeyer said in his statement. “Our country desperately needs not only stricter border security to keep the drugs and drug dealers out, but we also need to enhance the anti-money laundering systems in place to identify and stop those who are profiting.”
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