DeRemer: Destroy fentanyl ingredients at key trafficking sites

By News Update
In: Uncategorized
Sunday August 18, 2024

From the office of Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer,

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) recently joined Reps. María Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and several of her colleagues to help introduce the Destruction Initiative for Stored Precursors Overseas and Safe Enforcement (DISPOSE) Act (H.R. 9172). This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would create fentanyl and precursor chemical destruction facilities at three critical drug trafficking choke points in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.

“To get fentanyl off our streets and out of our communities, we must target the sources of illicit drugs. The DISPOSE Act would establish additional lines of defense to stop fentanyl from being illegally manufactured in the first place. By improving coordination with partner countries to destroy precursor chemicals, this legislation can help save lives,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Precursor chemicals form the basis of illicit drugs, including fentanyl. Currently, the United States has a limited understanding of how much other nations are doing to destroy seized precursor chemicals. The DISPOSE Act would improve cooperation with global partners by directing the State Department, in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Defense, to create the Precursor Chemical Destruction Initiative.

The initiative will:

  • Increase rates of seizure and destruction of listed chemicals in beneficiary countries;
  • Alleviate the backlog of seized chemicals and dispose of them in an environmentally safe and effective manner;
  • Ensure that seized chemicals are not reintroduced into the illicit drug production network within beneficiary countries;
  • Free up storage space for future chemical seizures within beneficiary countries; and
  • Reduce the chemicals’ negative environmental impact.

The proposal has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Jim Risch (R-Idaho).

Full text of the bill is available HERE

Share