Legislation targets fentanyl smugglers

U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), and Michael Guest (R-MS) recently introduced a measure they said would ensure fentanyl smuggler accountability for their role in the nation’s opioid epidemic.

The Fentanyl Trafficker Elimination Act seeks to increase domestic illegal fentanyl trafficking criminal penalties – determining anyone convicted of intentionally trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl analogues would be sentenced to life in prison.

“As an EMT and former federal drug prosecutor, I’ve witnessed firsthand the lethal effects of opioids, particularly fentanyl,”
Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, said. “Devastatingly, fentanyl has made its way into communities across America, and there is no end in sight. As part of our broader approach to tackling the addiction and overdose epidemic, we must address the dramatic rise in fentanyl and fentanyl-laced pill seizures at our ports of entry.”

The legislators cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) numbers that revealed an estimated 101,263 drug overdose deaths between June 2020 and June 2021, representing the highest number ever recorded in 12 months.

“Smugglers aren’t deterred by the existing penalties for trafficking fentanyl into the United States,” Burchett said. “You better be ready to spend the rest of your life in prison if you willingly bring illegal fentanyl across any of our borders. No longer can we shrug off this criminal activity that is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.”