II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 548
To amend the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act
of 1998 to require a Caribbean border counternarcotics strategy, and
for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY12, 2025
Mr. S
COTTof Florida (for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reau-
thorization Act of 1998 to require a Caribbean border
counternarcotics strategy, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Caribbean Border 4
Counternarcotics Strategy Act’’. 5
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•S 548 IS
SEC. 2. CARIBBEAN BORDER COUNTERNARCOTICS STRAT-1
EGY ACT. 2
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—Section 702 of the Office of Na-3
tional Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 4
(21 U.S.C. 1701) is amended— 5
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (15) through 6
(17) as paragraphs (16) through (18), respectively; 7
(2) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol-8
lowing: 9
‘‘(15) S
TATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 10
the several States of the United States, the District 11
of Columbia, and each territory or possession of the 12
United States.’’; 13
(3) by amending paragraph (18), as redesig-14
nated— 15
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (G) 16
and (H) as subparagraphs (H) and (I), respec-17
tively; and 18
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 19
the following: 20
‘‘(G) activities to map, track, dismantle, 21
and disrupt the financial networks of drug traf-22
ficking organizations, transnational criminal or-23
ganizations, and money laundering organiza-24
tions involved in the manufacture and traf-25
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•S 548 IS
ficking of drugs in the United States and in 1
foreign countries;’’; and 2
(4) by adding at the end the following: 3
‘‘(19) U
NITED STATES.—The term ‘United 4
States’, when used in a geographical sense, means 5
all of the States, the District of Columbia, and the 6
territories and possessions of the United States, and 7
any waters within the jurisdiction of the United 8
States.’’. 9
(b) R
EQUIREMENT FOR CARIBBEANBORDERCOUN-10
TERNARCOTICSSTRATEGY.—Section 706(c)(3) of the Of-11
fice of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act 12
of 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1705(c)(3)) is amended by adding at 13
the end the following: 14
‘‘(D) R
EQUIREMENT FOR CARIBBEAN BOR -15
DER COUNTERNARCOTICS STRATEGY .— 16
‘‘(i) P
URPOSES.—The Caribbean Bor-17
der Counternarcotics Strategy shall— 18
‘‘(I) set forth the strategy of the 19
Federal Government for preventing 20
the illegal trafficking of drugs through 21
the Caribbean region into the United 22
States, including through ports of 23
entry, between ports of entry, and 24
across air and maritime approaches; 25
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‘‘(II) describe the specific roles 1
and responsibilities of each relevant 2
National Drug Control Program agen-3
cy for implementing such strategy; 4
‘‘(III) identify the specific re-5
sources required to enable the relevant 6
National Drug Control Program agen-7
cies to implement such strategy; and 8
‘‘(IV) be designed to promote, 9
and not to hinder, legitimate trade 10
and travel. 11
‘‘(ii) S
PECIFIC CONTENT RELATED TO 12
PUERTO RICO AND THE UNITED STATES 13
VIRGIN ISLANDS.—The Caribbean Border 14
Counternarcotics Strategy shall include— 15
‘‘(I) a strategy to prevent the il-16
legal trafficking of drugs to or 17
through Puerto Rico or the United 18
States Virgin Islands, including meas-19
ures to substantially reduce drug-re-20
lated violent crime on such islands; 21
and 22
‘‘(II) recommendations for addi-23
tional assistance or authorities, if any, 24
needed by Federal, State, and local 25
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law enforcement agencies relating to 1
the strategy, including an evaluation 2
of Federal technical and financial as-3
sistance, infrastructure capacity build-4
ing, and interoperability deficiencies.’’. 5
Æ
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