Heitkamp's Anti-Drug Trafficking Legislation Unanimously Passes in Senate

Press Release

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced bipartisan legislation she pushed for to combat transnational drug trafficking -- a growing problem in North Dakota -- unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice has difficulty putting together successful extradition cases against foreign drug traffickers. Traffickers from East Asia -- and South and Central America -- frequently use Mexican drug trafficking organizations as intermediaries to transport illegal narcotics into the United States -- leaving the point of origin drug traffickers several steps removed from the direct importation of either their precursor chemicals or the drugs produced from those chemicals.

Heitkamp's bill would fix this problem by providing the department with new legal tools to prosecute foreign drug traffickers -- many of which have come to North Dakota. It would also establish penalties for criminals who traffic precursor chemicals for drugs like meth, knowing that the drugs will be imported into the United States for the production and sale of illegal narcotics.

"Law enforcement in North Dakota has been working hard to address the state's growing drug crime challenges and to make sure North Dakotans are safe in their homes and communities," said Heitkamp. "North Dakota is no longer a remote stop on a long drug trafficking chain -- we are now directly impacted by international trafficking and the challenges we now face related to drug crime are complex and require a comprehensive approach to find long-lasting solution. Through my Strong & Safe Communities Initiative and by bringing top officials from the Administration who oversee drug crime to North Dakota to see our challenges firsthand, we're making progress to bolster resources and better support law enforcement. This bill builds on those efforts. As North Dakota's former Attorney General, I'm all too familiar with the challenges law enforcement face to combat drug crime and how drug abuse can tear apart families and communities. The passage of this bipartisan bill is an important step forward but there's still much work left to do."

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