A proposed bill titled the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003, or Victory Act, would give law enforcement increased investigative and wiretapping powers but also would link low-level, nonviolent drug dealers with terrorism.
The measure, which includes portion of the so-called Patriot ACT II, aims to increase the government’s ability to investigate, wiretap, prosecute and incarcerate money launderers, fugitives, “narco-terrorists” and nonviolent drug dealers. The bill also bans hawalas, the paperless banking systems widely used in the Middle East, India and parts of Asia.
According to the measure, a narco-terrorist is any person who manufactures, distributes, imports, exports or possesses with intent to distribute or manufacture a controlled substance with the intent of providing aid, support, resources, or anything of value to a foreign terrorist organization.
The bill was authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and co-sponsored by four other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.
“Terrorists around the world, and in every region, appear to be increasing their involvement in the trafficking of illegal drugs, primarily as a source of financing for their terrorist operations,” said Hatch. “The connection between Middle Eastern terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and Latin American drug trafficking, has been reported in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, which has long been characterized as a regional hub for radical Islamic groups, which engage in arms and drug trafficking, contraband smuggling, money laundering and movement of pirated goods.”
Critics say the bill is an attempt raise support for the so-called war on drugs by linking drugs to terrorism.
“This bill struck me as a way to link a dying concept of how to fight the drug war to other issues that still have public support, like the war on terrorism,” said Ryan King, a research associate at the Sentencing Project. “It’s counter to what we have seen in the last few years, at least state-wise, where states are turning to drug treatment and alternative sentencing options.
(via Wired News)
Comments on this entry are closed.