,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bbbg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #aa1     
#bjbc,mr4 ,cornyn 7for himself and ,ms4 
,cortez ,masto7 introduced the following
 bill2 which was read twice and referred
 to the ,committee on ,banking1         
,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs  ,a ,,bill
  ,to require the ,comptroller ,general 
of the ,united ,states to carry out a   
study on the trafficking into the       
,united ,states of synthetic drugs1 and 
related illicit finance1 and for other  
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,preventing the     
,financing of ,illegal ,synthetic ,drugs
 ,act4  #b4 ,findings ,the ,congress    
finds the following3 7#a7 ,according to 
the ,centers for ,disease ,control and  
,prevention1 over #ajg1jjj people in the
 ,united ,states died from drug         
overdoses or drug poisonings in the     
#ab-month period ending ,january #bjbb1 
with #fg percent of those deaths        
involving synthetic opioids like        

fentanyl4  7#b7 ,according to the       
,united ,national ,office of ,drugs and 
,crime in its ,synthetic ,drug ,strategy
 #bjba-bjbe1 the number of synthetic    
drugs1 also called new psychoactive     
substances1 has increased #fca percent  
since #bjji1 with traffickers           
introducing an average of #hj new       
substances to the illicit drug market   
each year from #bjji to #bjai4  7#c7 ,in
 ,october #bjbb1 ,f4 ,michael           
,mc,daniel1 director of the ,houston    
,high ,intensity ,drug ,trafficking     
,areas program testified in ,congress   
that #a kilogram of fentanyl can produce
 #a1jjj1jjj counterfeit pills containing
 #a milligram of fentanyl1 saying1      
,currently in ,houston1 ,texas1 you can 
buy a kilogram of fentanyl for an       
average price of #be1jjj to #cj1jjj4    
,this same kilogram of fentanyl in      
,culiacn 7,mexico7 could be purchased at
 an average price of #ac1ejj4           
,currently1 the price of a fentanyl pill
 in ,houston ranges from #f to #fe4     

,therefore1 an illicit investment of    
#cj1jjj or less could result in a return
 of #f to #cb4e million44  7#d7         
,according to ,celina ,b4 ,realuyo1     
,adjunct ,professor1 ,the ,george       
,washington ,university ,elliott ,school
 of ,international ,affairs1 in ,march  
#bjbb ,congressional testimony1         
,financing is essential to support and  
sustain the command and control1        
personnel1 arms1 communications1        
logistics and operations of organized   
crime groups4 ,for this reason1         
following the money trail and depriving 
criminals of illicit financial flows can
 disrupt and disable these networks44   
#c4 ,,gao study on synthetic drugs      
trafficking  7a7 ,study ,the            
,comptroller ,general of the ,united    
,states shall conduct a study on illicit
 financing in connection with the       
trafficking of synthetic drugs1         
including fentanyl and methamphetamine1 
fentanyl- and methamphetamine-related   
substances1 ,captagon1 and fentanyl and 

methamphetamine precursors1 that        
includes-- 7#a7 the business of the     
trafficking of synthetic drugs and      
related illicit finance1 such as the    
participation of transnational criminal 
organizations and terror syndicates and 
their notable trafficking corridors1    
including source and transit countries2 
7#b7 the business models used by        
transnational criminal organizations1   
including ,united ,states domestic and  
foreign activities for precursor        
purchase or production1 movement along  
the supply chain1 manufacture of the    
completed product1 marketing1           
distribution1 sales1 and return of      
proceeds2  7#c7 the overlap of the      
business model of human trafficking and 
the trafficking of synthetic drugs and  
related illicit finance2  7#d7 the use  
of online illicit drug markets and the  
use of social media for the marketing1  
sale1 and payment for synthetic drugs2  
7#e7 financial methods used by          
transnational criminal organizations1   

including-- 7,a7 payment2  7,b7 money   
laundering2 and  7,c7 repatriation of   
proceeds2  7#f7 the use of social media 
applications like ,snapchat1 ,discord1  
and ,facebook and payment applications  
like ,cash ,app to facilitate financial 
transactions for synthetic drug         
trafficking1 especially among young     
people2 and  7#g7 ,united ,states       
,government activities to combat illicit
 finance related to the trafficking of  
synthetic drugs1 including-- 7,a7       
interagency collaboration1 such as      
personnel detailed to other agencies to 
support the effort to combat synthetic  
drugs trafficking and related illicit   
finance2  7,b7 intergovernmental        
collaboration2  7,c7 intersectoral      
collaboration with the private sector1  
including the business and              
nongovernmental communities2 and  7,d7  
identified gaps or resource deficiencies
 in combating the trafficking of        
synthetic drugs and related illicit     
finance in the coordination and         

collaboration activities described in   
subparagraphs 7,a7 through 7,c74  7b7   
,report ,not later than #a year after   
the date of enactment of this ,act1 the 
,comptroller ,general shall submit to   
,congress a report that contains all    
findings and determinations made in     
conducting the study required under     
subsection 7a74