{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-moody-target-fentanyl-pill-presses-in-new-legislation", "Crapo, Moody Target Fentanyl Pill Presses in New Legislation", "2026-07-17", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "ID", "Mike Crapo", "C000880", "www.crapo.senate.gov", "crapo", "https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2013U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) teamed up with U.S. Senator Ashley Moody (R-Florida) to introduce legislation targeting equipment used by drug cartels to manufacture counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, which is responsible for killing thousands of Americans each year. S. 4446, the PRESS Act, would criminalize the intentional importation of pill press machines and unlisted precursor chemicals to manufacture illicit drugs.\n\n\u201cDrug trafficking poses a grave threat to our national security and the safety of the American people,\u201d said Crapo. \u201cOur laws must keep pace with the evolving tactics used by criminal organizations to manufacture and distribute illicit synthetic drugs. The PRESS Act would strengthen law enforcement\u2019s ability to hold foreign actors accountable for importing precursor chemicals and pill presses intended for the production and distribution of illegal controlled substances.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nPill press machines are often imported into the United States by drug cartels piecemeal and then assembled domestically to produce counterfeit pills that are sold to Americans and often laced with deadly fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.\n\nThe PRESS Act would give federal prosecutors the tools needed to charge foreign entities that import unlisted precursor chemicals and pill press machines with the intent to manufacture illicit drugs.\n\nThe bill would add criminal penalties for the unlawful importation of pill presses.\n\nIn 2025, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized more than 45 million fentanyl pills and more than 9,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, removing an estimated 347 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl from our communities.\n\nDEA intelligence indicates a shift in cartel operations, with increased trafficking of fentanyl powder and domestic production of fentanyl pills.\n\nCounterfeit pills are pressed to look like legitimate prescription opioids using imported tableting machines, punches and die molds. These tabletop pill press machines can produce up to 5,000 pills per hour, with larger floor models producing 15,000 pills per hour.\n\nChina and Central American cartels skillfully smuggle pill press parts through U.S. ports and customs, often labeling them as \u201cfurniture parts\u201d or \u201cmachine spare parts.\u201d These parts are then reassembled as unregistered pill presses and used to mass produce counterfeit pills.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-18T06:58:50Z", "2026-07-18T07:00:34Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-moody-target-fentanyl-pill-presses-in-new-legislation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9234980680048466, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}