U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is taking the lead on bipartisan legislation to increase penalties against drug dealers and to target the international trafficking of fentanyl sales via the dark web.
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is taking the lead on bipartisan legislation to increase penalties against drug dealers and to target the international trafficking of fentanyl sales via the dark web.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is taking the lead on bipartisan legislation to strengthen penalties against illegal drug dealers and to especially target the international sales of fentanyl through the dark web.
Rep. Chris Pappas, also D-N.H., is joining to co-sponsor and reintroduce the Dark Web Interdiction Act along with two congressional Republicans from the southern border, Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Tony Gonzales, both of Texas.
“The dark web is a hotspot for illegal drug trafficking and allows criminals to become essentially untraceable, which helps fuel the fentanyl crisis in our state and across the country,” Hassan said in a statement provided to the Union Leader.
“This bipartisan bill strengthens efforts to crack down on dark web drug trafficking by increasing penalties for drug dealers. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this critical legislation to hold these criminals accountable.”
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said these reforms are essential if the country is to get a handle on the steady flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
“The dark web provides anonymity to society’s worst criminals, and functions as a trade hub for deadly opioids like fentanyl,” Cornyn said.
“The Dark Web Interdiction Act will take several critical steps to help law enforcement more easily find and apprehend these dangerous dealers while keeping Congress abreast of their progress.”
Pappas said he has learned from state, local and county police here how the dark web has been used to traffic large amounts of fentanyl into the New England region.
“I’ve heard directly from law enforcement about the use of the dark web to procure and ship drugs into our communities, and we must crack down on this practice and hold traffickers accountable for the harm they have caused,” Pappas said.
Gonzales said the opioid crisis is “getting worse” and communities across his south Texas district have faced the repercussions.
“I am proud to once again co-lead this bipartisan effort to help law enforcement apprehend and convict contraband dealers across the dark web,” Gonzales said.
The provisions of the bill include:
• Increases criminal penalties on individuals convicted of trafficking illegal drugs on the dark web by directing the United States Sentencing Commission enhance sentencing for those individuals;
• Strengthens and makes permanent the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) task force that leads coordinated international, federal, state, and local efforts to combat drug trafficking on the dark web.
Created in 2018, J-CODE has led to hundreds of arrests worldwide, seizures of thousands of pounds of narcotics, and the closure of several dark web marketplaces and,
• Directs the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Treasury Department to issue a report to Congress within one year detailing the use of cryptocurrency on the dark web, as well as provide recommendations for how Congress can address the use of virtual currency for opioid trafficking on the dark web.
Hassan, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, recently visited Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to speak with foreign officials about efforts to crack down on drug trafficking.
