The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report examining how agencies designate individuals and entities under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).
The report also examines how the agencies monitor, enforce, and report on sanctions under the Kingpin Act and how they assess the effectiveness of the act.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the act, identifies potential individuals and entities that contribute to illicit narcotics trafficking, compiles evidence, submits it for legal review, and seeks concurrence from partner agencies.
The GAO found OFAC has not ensured consistency and transparency of the expenditure data it reports annually to Congress, nor has it reported the limitations of agency data.
The GAO also found that different agencies use different methods to calculate the personnel and resource costs associated with their Kingpin activities.
This could hinder oversight of the Kingpin Act, GAO said.
The GAO issued two recommendations for the Secretary of the Treasury.
The first recommendation asks that OFAC provide its partner agencies more specific guidance regarding Kingpin Act–related expenditure data.
The second recommendation states the office should disclose information regarding the limitations of the consistency and reliability of agency expenditure data in OFAC’s annual reports to Congress.