Sec. 269. Study and report on Coast Guard interdiction of illicit drugs in the transit zones
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Congress makes the following findings: The Coast Guard seizes an average of 1,221 pounds of cocaine and 85 pounds of marijuana each day in the transit zones of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Southern maritime border approaches. The Joint Interagency Task Force–South (JIATF–South) estimates that it has a spectrum of actionable intelligence on more than 80 percent of drug movements into the United States from Central America and South America. The Coast Guard must balance asset allocation across 11 statutory missions.
As such, the Coast Guard interdicts less than 10 percent of maritime noncommercial smuggling of illicit drugs into the United States from Central America and South America. In 2017, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the Commandant of the Coast Guard— develop new performance goals relating to the interdiction of illicit drugs smuggled into the United States, or describe the manner in which existing goals are sufficient; report such goals to the public; assess the extent to which limitations in performance data with respect to such goals are documented; document measurable corrective actions and implementation timeframes with respect to such goals; and document efforts to monitor implementation of such corrective actions.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall conduct a study in order to identify gaps in resources that contribute to low interdiction rates for maritime noncommercial smuggling of illicit drugs into the United States from Central America and South America despite having actionable intelligence on more than 80 percent of drug movements in the transit zones of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Southern maritime border approaches.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on the results of the study under subsection (b). The report required under subsection
(a)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.