Congress representative Chris Pappas has proposed new legislation called “The Dark Web Interdiction Act of 2025”. As of now, the bill has two co-sponsors Tony Gonzalez and Brian K. Fitzpatrick.
Its main focus is to target opioids and other hard drugs being sold and sent through the dark web.
The Act outlines new penalties. It will become a separate crime to use the dark web to distribute controlled substances.It will increase criminal penalties on individuals convicted of trafficking illegal drugs on the dark web by directing the United States Sentencing Commission to enhance sentencing for those individuals
The act also plans to make the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) task force permanent. Previously in 2018 J-CODE made up of FBI agents and technical experts was created by the Attorney General to target opioid sellers and primarily focused on domestic sellers. This new act is expected to expand their powers.
New DEA Lab
Another act previously passed was the Laboratory Analysts and Biometric (LAB) Personnel Act to exempt Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lab personnel from the Trump Administration’s federal hiring freeze or any workforce reductions related to spending cuts, reprogramming of funds, or the probationary status of employees.
This was for the New England Lab, scheduled to open in April 2026, which will be the eighth regional DEA laboratory in the nation and will specialize in both drug chemistry and latent fingerprint identification.
Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6104/text
