The Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control has oversight of U.S. counternarcotics policy. The caucus’s seven bipartisan members work to combat international narcotics trafficking and reduce domestic drug abuse.

As caucus chairman, Senator Feinstein is particularly interested in U.S. efforts to reduce drug trafficking and drug-related violence in Mexico and Afghanistan. The caucus has held hearings on strategies to dismantle Mexican drug trafficking organizations, efforts to stop money laundering from the United States to Mexico, the Taliban’s shift to drug trafficking in Afghanistan and the proliferation of border tunnels along the Southwest border.

For more information on a Feinstein anti-tunneling bill that became law in 2012, click here.

The caucus has been particularly focused on the dangers of illegal drugs in our own communities. We have held hearings on how to best stop methamphetamine production and abuse and the dangers of new synthetic drugs such as K2, Spice and bath salts.

Chairman Feinstein has authored a number of reports with her colleagues on how best to reduce the trafficking of illegal drugs and drug-related violence. Below is a list of recent reports the Caucus has released:

• Responding to Violence in Central America: Report argues that Central America is at a dangerous crossroads and calls for security in the subregion to become a greater priority across all U.S. government agencies.
   
• Halting U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico: Report urges Congress and the Administration to strengthen firearms laws to stem drug-related violence, citing data that 70 percent of weapons recovered in Mexico and traced originated from the United States.
   
• U.S. and Mexican Responses to Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations: Report outlines key steps and initiatives to combat Mexico’s brutal drug trafficking organizations and reduce violence in the country, and offers Congress and the Administration recommendations on how to jointly work with Mexico to stop drug trafficking.
   
• U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy in Afghanistan: Report describes the Taliban’s shift to drug trafficking, a threat which cannot be ignored. The new focus provides the terrorist organization with a lucrative source of financing that puts the U.S. mission in Afghanistan at risk.  The report asserts that if the drug problem in Afghanistan is ignored, the mission in Afghanistan will fail.

The complete calendar of future and past caucus hearings and other useful information are available on the Drug Caucus website.