The imperative to make opioids traffic less profitable

LAST year the US president declared what many experienced first hand, that the opioid epidemic is a national emergency.

Frankly, with as many as 59,000 deaths in 2016, there doesn’t seem to be any other possible description.

So many dedicated people in cities and towns, faith communities and schools, families and hospitals are fighting to save lives and help people escape addiction. But there are also a lot of people working to keep illegal opioids on the streets.

With 2.6 million opioid addicts in the United States, the scale of drugrunning operations is immense, as are the profits.

It’s not a mystery why the cartels build these operations.

They do it for the money — and there is a lot of money to be had.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that of the US$65 billion spent on illegal drugs each year, about US$1 billion, or 1.5 percent, is seized by all federal agencies combined. That means 98.5 percent of the profits from trafficking remain in the hands of cartels and other narco traffickers.

We can and must stop that free flow of money, which, besides flooding our communities with cheap heroin, helps strengthen these criminal enterprises.

As the bipartisan Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control wrote in 2013: “[W]e have become convinced that we cannot stop the drug trade without first cutting off the money that flows to drug trafficking organizations.”

There are simple steps we can take now that go after that money. For starters, we must get rid of anonymous shell companies — companies formed with no way of knowing who owns or controls them (known as the “beneficial owner”).

As documented in the report “Anonymity Overdose,” traffickers can hide and move drug proceeds through anonymous shell companies because starting such companies requires zero personal information.

One of the most dangerous chemicals associated with the opioid crisis is fentanyl — some 50 times more potent than heroin. Deaths from fentanyl overdoses are up 540 percent in the last three years.

Law enforcement agents have cataloged how fentanyl is often shipped to the US from other countries. Sometimes the drugs or drug making supplies are sent from, and addressed to, a set of anonymous companies.

These companies, which are not connected to the real owner (and sometimes not even connected to a real person), can open bank accounts, transfer money, and buy real estate.

Law enforcement does not have access to who is behind these entities.

Requiring all companies formed in the US disclose their beneficial owners would enable law enforcement to more effectively follow the money trail to the top.

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both chambers of Congress which would do just that, and we believe this is something Congress should enact as soon as possible.

As we ask ourselves what else can we do to stand against this epidemic, it’s follow the money.

John Cassara is a former US Treasury special agent, who spent much of his career investigating money laundering and terrorist financing. Nathan Proctor is a co-author of “Anonymity Overdose,” and a National Campaign Director with Fair Share. Copyright: American Forum.