RELEASE: REP. HILL INTRODUCES BILL TO IMPOSE NEW SANCTIONS ON ASSAD’S PRODUCTION AND TRAFFICKING OF THE TOXIC NARCOTIC CAPTAGON
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
July 18, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. French Hill (AR-02), alongside Democratic colleague Rep. Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), introduced the Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act which would issue new sanctions against the perpetrators of the illicit production and trafficking of captagon.
Rep. Hill said, “Assad is a transnational drug kingpin whose captagon drug is devastating families in the region and fueling his terror partnership with Iran and Hezbollah with billions in illegal funding. Now that the Biden Administration has outlined their strategy to combat the illegal revenue of captagon mandated by my bill, the CAPTAGON Act, it is critical that the U.S. government continue to act decisively to disrupt and dismantle the production and trafficking of captagon.
“My bill, the Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act, will further press the Assad regime by imposing new sanctions to directly target individuals and networks associated with the production and trafficking of this drug. To ensure stability in the region, the U.S. government must continue to work with our allies and partners and put pressure on stopping the proliferation of this dangerous drug.”
Rep. Moskowitz said, “We have witnessed the re-emergence of the Assad regime since they began leveraging the sale of this dangerous drug. Not only will new sanctions help reduce the illegal sale of captagon from making its way to the United States, but it will also further weaken the Assad regime and the terrorist organizations they fund.”
Further Background:
H.R. 4681 - Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act: This bill would issue new sanctions against the perpetrators of the illicit production and trafficking of captagon.
H.R. 6265 – Countering Assad’s Proliferation Trafficking And Garnering Of Narcotics (CAPTAGON) Act: This legislation requires the U.S. government to develop an interagency strategy to disrupt and dismantle narcotics production and trafficking and affiliated networks linked to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.
This bill passed in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was signed into law in December 2022. On June 29, 2023, the Biden Administration released their strategy in their report to Congress, which can be found HERE.
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