ICAIE Applauds President Biden for His Commitment To Fight Transnational Organized Crime

Today, President Biden is taking decisive action to detect, disrupt, and reduce the power of transnational criminal organizations and protect the American people with two executive orders (E.O.s) on transnational organized crime and illicit drugs.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/

Transnational organized crime is a billion-dollar business that transcends geographical boundaries and threatens global stability. Every year, millions of lives are affected by transnational criminal organizations, including through drug overdose and use, violence, firearm deaths, and human trafficking and smuggling. Addressing the core causes and sources of transnational criminal activities is an urgent priority for our country and the Biden Administration.

Transnational criminal organizations engage in a broad range of criminal activities, including drug and weapons trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, money laundering, wildlife and timber trafficking, illegal fishing, and illegal mining. Transnational criminal organizations are trafficking opioids into U.S. neighborhoods and communities, fueling both the drug overdose epidemic and drug-related violence. Transnational criminal organizations trafficking synthetic opioids, most notably fentanyl, have fueled drug overdoses across the United States, taking one American life approximately every five minutes. Tragically, more than 100,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses in the 12 months leading up to April 2021, representing a 28% increase over the same period last year.

The U.S. Council on Transnational Organized Crime (USCTOC): Combatting transnational organized crime requires the broad skills and expertise of the entire Federal government be brought to bear. The new USCTOC includes Cabinet-level representation from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It will coordinate government‑wide lines of effort to counter transnational organized crime, and restructure and enhance the U.S. Government’s Threat Mitigation Working Group (TMWG), which was previously tasked with supporting counter-transnational organized crime efforts under Executive Order (E.O.) 13773 of February 9, 2017 (Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking). The two executive orders, ⁣Establishing the U.S. Council on Transnational Organized Crime and Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade, will help to counter the threat posed by transnational criminal organizations to American communities. The Administration is formally establishing the U.S. Council on Transnational Organized Crime, bringing together six key departments and agencies involved in counter-transnational organized crime efforts to ensure that the U.S. Government effectively leverages all appropriate tools to counter the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations.

Find both Executive Orders at the official The White House webpage:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/