Mississippi § 27-3-80 - Creation of task force to facilitate investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking kingpins regarding tax evasion and other crimes; reporting and determination of possible violations of law; employment of criminal investigator; confidentiality of information; definitions.

§ 27-3-80. Creation of task force to facilitate investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking kingpins regarding tax evasion and other crimes; reporting and determination of possible violations of law; employment of criminal investigator; confidentiality of information; definitions.

The Attorney General, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Narcotics shall create a task force to facilitate the transfer of information from law enforcement agencies to the Attorney General indicating that an individual is a drug trafficking kingpin, is laundering money received from drug trafficking and is likely evading the income reporting requirements of state law. The Attorney General shall examine all relevant information to determine the probability that such violations of law exist. The Attorney General may enlist the aid of any other law enforcement agency in the state in an investigation under this section. If the Attorney General determines that tax evasion is probably occurring, he shall forward the information to the Department of Revenue with a request that the Department of Revenue perform a criminal tax evasion investigation. The Department of Revenue shall report its preliminary findings to the Attorney General within one hundred twenty (120) days after receiving the information. If the report of the Department of Revenue to the Attorney General indicates that the individual who is the subject of the investigation has failed to report income as required by law and such failure constitutes a criminal violation, the Attorney General is authorized to prosecute the individual for criminal tax violations. The Attorney General is authorized to file an ex parte petition for release of tax information to the Bureau of Narcotics for presentation to appropriate state or federal prosecutors for the prosecution of federal tax offenses or other applicable offenses. Subject to available funding, the Department of Revenue is authorized to employ a criminal investigator to carry out the investigative and reporting requirements of this section. Any information received by the Attorney General, the Department of Revenue, the Bureau of Narcotics or other law enforcement agency shall be confidential except to the extent that disclosure is necessary to pursue tax evasion or other criminal tax charges or unless a proper judicial order is obtained. Information received under this section is exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. As used in this section: “Drug trafficking kingpin” means an individual who directs or participates in directing the illegal activities of a kingpin organization. “Kingpin organization” means a group of individuals, operating as a group either formally or informally, who sell, transport, manufacture and/or deliver controlled substances in felony violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law. To qualify as a kingpin organization, the group would either have to distribute major quantities of controlled substances, or their trafficking activities would have to occur in or affect more than one (1) circuit court district.