# Plain Language Summary: Dark Web Interdiction Act

This bill makes it a federal crime to deliver opioids through the dark web—the hidden part of the internet where people use special software to stay anonymous. Right now, drug dealers use the dark web to sell illegal opioids like fentanyl to people across the country without getting caught. The bill says anyone who knowingly delivers or distributes opioids this way, or helps someone else do it, can be prosecuted. If convicted, judges will be required to add extra time to sentences for people caught selling drugs on the dark web compared to other drug crimes.

The bill also creates a new federal task force called the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement Task Force, headquartered in the FBI. This task force brings together agents from multiple agencies—including the DEA, postal inspectors, border patrol, and others—to work together specifically on shutting down illegal dark web drug markets. The task force will investigate these marketplaces, provide training to local police and prosecutors on how to handle dark web cases, develop better ways to collect evidence from online crimes, and share information across different law enforcement agencies. Basically, it's designed to coordinate efforts that are currently scattered across different agencies so they can be more effective at taking down these illegal drug operations.

The bill also requires the government to study how virtual currencies like Bitcoin are being used to pay for these illegal drug transactions and report back to Congress with recommendations. The task force itself will expire after five years unless Congress votes to extend it, and Congress is encouraged to review and update the definition of "dark web" every five years as technology changes. The goal is straightforward: make it harder for criminals to anonymously sell deadly opioids online and give law enforcement better tools and coordination to catch them.

Dark Web Interdiction Act

Dark Web Interdiction Act This bill establishes enhanced criminal penalties for distributing controlled substances via the dark web. It also establishes other programs and requirements to address the use of the dark web for illicit drug activities. (Dark web means the portions of the internet with hidden sites and services that (1) are not generally searchable, and (2) can only be accessed with specialized devices or services that conceal the identities and locations of users.) Specifically, the bill provides an enhanced criminal penalty for delivering, distributing, or dispensing controlled substances via the dark web. The bill also provides statutory authority for the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement Task Force, which supports the investigation and prosecution of drug offenses committed via the dark web domestically and internationally. In addition, the Department of Justice must report on how and to what extent virtual currencies are used for opioid distribution via the dark web.