On Thursday, legislation designed to crack down on illegal drugs smuggled into the country through U.S. transportation networks was introduced in the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Ben Ray Luján. (D-NM) introduced the bill titled the Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on U.S. Transportation Networks Act of 2024. Officials said the legislation would boost detection of illegal drugs and creating first-ever inspection strategies to stop smuggling by commercial aircraft, railroads, vehicles and ships. The legislation would also boost state, local and tribal law enforcement resources, deploy next-generation non-intrusive detection technologies and increase port of entry inspections.
“Drug traffickers should not be allowed to exploit the U.S. transportation system to smuggle fentanyl and precursor chemicals to make illicit synthetic drugs,” Cantwell said. “Our bill equips federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement with the tools they need to curb drug smuggling by accelerating the development of non-intrusive technologies to inspect our commercial aircraft, trucks, trains and ships – while boosting resources to deploy this technology and drug-sniffing dogs, improving forensic science at crime labs, and building a better system to share intelligence and information between federal authorities and the private sector.”
The legislation would require Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to inspect 100 percent of motor vehicles and railroads entering a port of entry within five years, and all civil air cargo and maritime cargo within te10 years. Currently, CBP only inspects 1-2 percent of passenger vehicles and 15-17 percent of commercial vehicles. Additionally, the legislation would Directs the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to develop a national strategy to prevent the smuggling of illicit synthetic drugs at U.S. ports of entry; and to accelerate new technologies to detect synthetic drugs, including integrating AI and quantum technologies.
The bill is supported by a number of law enforcement associations like the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies.
“The National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition applauds Senator Cantwell for her work on the Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on U.S. Transportation Networks Act. The surge in drug poisoning deaths, especially from fentanyl, shows that more needs to be done. We know that a large portion of illegal narcotics are trafficked through our transportation systems, and this legislation will provide the needed resources such as advanced detection technology and canines to enhance law enforcement’s ability to conduct inspections on our nation’s transportation systems,” Eric Brown, president of the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, said.