Drug Enforcement Administration
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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the
Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...
, sharing
concurrent jurisdiction Concurrent jurisdiction exists where two or more courts from different systems simultaneously have jurisdiction over a specific case. United States In the United States, state courts are presumed to have concurrent jurisdiction in federal matt ...
with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and
U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...
. The DEA is responsible for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and internationally. It was established in 1973 as part of the U.S. government's war on drugs. The DEA has an intelligence unit that is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. While the unit is part of the DEA chain-of-command, it also reports to the
director of national intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...
. The DEA has been criticized for scheduling drugs that have medicinal uses, and for focusing on operations that allow it to seize money rather than those involving drugs that cause more harm.


History and mandate

The Drug Enforcement Administration was established on July 1, 1973, by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1973, signed by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
on July 28. It proposed the creation of a single federal agency to enforce the
federal drug laws The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances is regulated. It was passed by the 91st United State ...
as well as consolidate and coordinate the government's drug control activities.
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
accepted the proposal, as they were concerned with the growing availability of drugs. As a result, the
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) was a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice with the enumerated power of investigating the consumption, traff ...
(BNDD), the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE); approximately 600 Special Agents of the Bureau of Customs, Customs Agency Service, and other federal offices merged to create the DEA. The DEA is the primary federal agency charged with implementing and enforcing the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which is Title II of a larger Federal Act called the
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, , is a United States federal law that, with subsequent modifications, requires the pharmaceutical industry to maintain physical security and strict record keeping for certain typ ...
. The DEA is responsible for drugs listed in the CSA's five drug Schedules, categories that rank drugs by their potential for harm, and whether they have a medical use. The CSA seeks to ensure legitimate access to controlled pharmaceuticals, while preventing illicit use of controlled drugs. To these ends, the DEA implements two intersecting legal schemes created by the CSA, ''registration'' provisions for entities involved in legal activities, violations of which are not usually criminal offenses, and ''trafficking'' provisions for illegal activities, violations of which are criminal offenses. From the early 1970s, DEA headquarters was located at 1405 I ("Eye") Street NW in downtown Washington, D.C. With the overall growth of the agency in the 1980s (owing to the increased emphasis on federal drug law enforcement efforts) and concurrent growth in the headquarters staff, the DEA began to search for a new headquarters location; locations in
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
and various abandoned military bases around the United States were considered. However, then–
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Edwin Meese Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan presidential transition team (1980� ...
determined that the headquarters had to be located close to the attorney general's office. Thus, in 1989, the headquarters relocated to 600–700 Army-Navy Drive in the Pentagon City area of Arlington County, Virginia, near the eponymous
Metro station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...
. On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh carried out a terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
. He was targeting regional offices for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI),
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...
(ATF) and DEA, all of which had carried out raids that he viewed as unjustified intrusions on the rights of the people. This attack caused the deaths of two DEA employees, one task force member and two contractors in the
Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, United States, on April 19, 1995. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Perpetr ...
. Subsequently, the DEA headquarters complex was classified as a Level IV installation under United States federal building security standards, meaning it was to be considered a high-risk law enforcement target for terrorists. Security measures include hydraulic steel roadplates to enforce standoff distance from the building, metal detectors and guard stations. In February 2003, the DEA established a Digital Evidence Laboratory within its Office of Forensic Sciences.


Organization

The DEA is headed by an administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Administrator reports to the
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
through the deputy attorney general. The administrator is assisted by a deputy administrator, the chief of operations, the chief inspector, and three assistant administrators (for the Operations Support, Intelligence, and Human Resources divisions). Other senior staff includes the chief financial officer and the chief counsel. The administrator and deputy administrator are the only presidentially appointed personnel in the DEA; all other DEA officials are career government employees. DEA's headquarters is located in
Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
, across from
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
. It maintains its own DEA Academy located on the Marine Corps Base Quantico at
Quantico, Virginia Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 578 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bound ...
, alongside the FBI Academy. , it maintains 241 domestic offices in 23 divisions, and 93 foreign offices in 69 countries. With a budget exceeding $3 billion, DEA employs 10,169 people, including 4,924 special agents and 800 intelligence analysts. its headquarters and the DEA Museum were in in Lincoln Place, a rented office building in Pentagon City in
Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
. In September 2018 this lease was scheduled to end. The
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...
(GSA), circa 2015, was checking to see where in Northern Virginia the DEA could be headquartered. In 2018 the government of the United States extended the lease at Lincoln Place, now to expire circa 2033. The DEA administration favored retaining the original location.


Structure

*Administrator **Deputy Administrator ***Human Resource Division ****Career Board ****Board of Professional Conduct ****Office of Training ***Operations Division ****Aviation Division ****Office of Operations Management ****Special Operations Division ****Office of Diversion Control ****Office of Global Enforcement ****Office of Financial Operations ***Intelligence Division **** Office of National Security Intelligence (ONSI) ****Office of Strategic Intelligence ****Office of Special Intelligence **** El Paso Intelligence Center **** OCDETF Fusion Center ***Financial Management Division ****Office of Acquisition and Relocation Management ****Office of Finance ****Office of Resource Management ***Operational Support Division ****Office of Administration ****Office of Information System ****Office of Forensic Science ****Office of Investigative Technology ***Inspection Division ****Office of Inspections ****Office of Professional Responsibility ****Office of Security Programs ***Field Divisions and Offices


Special agents

As of 2017, there were 4,650 special agents employed by the Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA agents' starting salary is $49,746–$55,483. After four years, the salary rises to above $92,592. This figure doesn’t include Cost of living allowance (COLA) or LEAP which rated at 25% of base pay including COLA. Special Agents at the 13 step 5 level in high cost of living areas of the United States make near the federal pay cap of $191,000. After receiving a conditional offer of employment, recruits must then complete an 18-week rigorous training which includes lessons in firearms proficiency (including basic marksmanship), weapons safety, tactical shooting, and deadly-force decision training. To graduate, students must maintain an academic average of 80 percent on academic examinations, pass the firearms qualification test, successfully demonstrate leadership and sound decision-making in practical scenarios, and pass rigorous physical-task tests. Upon graduation, recruits earn the title of DEA Special Agent. Because the DEA is responsible for enforcing the
Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...
, it excludes from consideration job applicants who use or have a recent history of using
narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
or illicit drugs. As of June 27, 2024, DEA applicants cannot have used cannabis or marijuana within three years of submitting their application and cannot have used any other narcotic substance within seven years of applying, although allowances are made for the use of marijuana prior to an applicant's 18th birthday. Background investigations usually include a polygraph test for special-agent, diversion-investigator, and intelligence research specialist positions. The DEA's relatively firm stance on personal drug use contrasts with those of the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, which in 2023 considered further relaxing their eligibility guidelines so as to combat dwindling recruitment rates.


Aviation Division

The DEA Aviation Division or Office of Aviation Operations (OA) (formerly Aviation Section) is an airborne division based in Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, Texas. The current OA fleet consists of 106 aircraft and 124 DEA pilots. The DEA shares a communications system with the
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
for communication with state and regional enforcement independent of the Department of Justice and police information systems and is coordinated by an information command center called the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) near
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
.


Special Response Teams

Rapid Response Teams (RRT), previously known as Foreign-Deployed Advisory and Support Teams (FAST), were decommissioned by DEA acting administrator Chuck Rosenburg in March 2017 via memorandum. A need for domestic high-risk service teams led to the hybrid creation of specialized tactical units residing within various geographical regions throughout the United States. DEA officially created and standardized its Special Response Team (SRT) program in 2016. The SRT was designed as a stop-gap between tactical operations conducted by field agents and those necessitating specialized tactics as a result of elevated risks. SRT operators are highly trained in various weapons systems and entry tactics/maneuvers. Because of the clandestine nature of the DEA mission, SRT training protocols and activation requirements are highly sensitive and not available to the public. Some of the SRT missions consist of high-risk arrests, vehicle assaults, air assault/infiltration, specialized surveillance, custody of high-profile individuals, dignitary and witness protection, tactical surveillance and interdiction, advanced breaching, tactical training to other police units, and urban and rural fugitive searches. Covertly located throughout the nation, DEA SRT teams are available to respond to practically any CONUS geographical area with little to no preparation or notification. The DEA SRT has been involved in several high-profile operations in recent years, however, DEA involvement is often not publicized due to operational and intelligence considerations. Considered one of the most covert outfits in federal law enforcement, very little is known about DEA SRT capabilities and its operator selection process. In the past, DEA had other tactical teams like the High-risk Entry Apprehension Teams (HEAT) in some Field Divisions, and Operation Snowcap Teams (predecessor of FAST). The teams administered by the Mobile Enforcement Section, the Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET), and Regional Enforcement Teams (RET), were mobile investigative units intended to deploy resources to state and local agencies (MET) or DEA Field Divisions (RET) in need of assistance with a particular investigation or trafficking group. These programs ended in the early 2000s.


Special Operations Division

The DEA Special Operations Division (SOD) is a division within the DEA, which forwards information from wiretaps, intercepts, and databases from various sources to federal agents and local law enforcement officials. The SOD came under scrutiny following the 2010s global surveillance disclosures.


Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program

The Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) began funding eradication programs in Hawaii and California in 1979. The program rapidly expanded to include programs in 25 states by 1982. By 1985, all 50 states were participating in the DCE/SP. In 2015, the DCE/SP was responsible for the eradication of 3,932,201 cultivated outdoor cannabis plants and 325,019 indoor plants for a total of 4,257,220 marijuana plants. In addition, the DCE/SP accounted for 6,278 arrests and the seizure in excess of $29.7 million of cultivator assets. In 2014, the DEA spent $73,000 to eradicate marijuana plants in Utah, though they did not find a single marijuana plant. Federal documents obtained by journalist Drew Atkins detail the DEA's continuing efforts to spend upwards of $14 million per year to completely eradicate marijuana within the United States despite the government funding allocation reports showing that the Marijuana Eradication Program often leads to the discovery of no marijuana plants. This prompted twelve members of Congress to push for the elimination of the program and use the money instead to fund domestic-violence prevention and deficit-reduction programs.


Budget

In 2018, the DEA budget was $2.086 billion. $445 million was spent on international enforcement and $1.627 billion was spent on domestic enforcement. * Breaking foreign and domestic sources of supply ($1.0149 billion) via domestic cannabis eradication/suppression; domestic enforcement; research, engineering, and technical operations; the Foreign Cooperative Investigations Program; intelligence operations ( financial intelligence, operational intelligence, strategic intelligence, and the El Paso Intelligence Center); and drug and chemical diversion control. * Reduction of drug-related crime and violence ($181.8 million) funding state and local teams and mobile enforcement teams. *
Demand reduction Demand reduction refers to efforts aimed at reducing the public desire for illegal and illicit drugs. The drug policy is in contrast to the reduction of drug supply, but the two policies are often implemented together. Some discussions of deman ...
($3.3 million) via anti-
legalization Legalization is the process of removing a law, legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal. Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which ...
education, training for law enforcement personnel, youth programs, support for community-based coalitions, and sports drug awareness programs.


Firearms

DEA agents' primary service weapons are the Glock 17 and
Glock 19 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer-Receiver (firearms), framed, Recoil operation#Short recoil operation, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer G ...
, Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun, and Rock River Arms LAR-15 semi-automatic carbine in 5.56×45mm NATO. Agents may also qualify to carry a firearm listed on an authorized carry list maintained and updated by the Firearms Training Unit (FTU), Quantico, Virginia. Special Agents may qualify with their own personally-owned handguns, rifle, and shotgun, and certain handguns are allowed to be used with permission from the FTU. Agents are required to attend tactical and firearms proficiency training quarterly, and to qualify with their handguns twice per year. The DEA has one of the most challenging handgun qualification courses in all of the federal law enforcement. Failure to achieve a passing qualification score is the reason for most Academy dismissals and special agents in the field may have their authority to carry a firearm revoked for failure to qualify. Basic Agent Trainees (BATs) who fail the initial pistol qualification course of fire are placed in a remedial program to receive additional training. In remedial training, BATs receive five extra two-hour range sessions, for a total of 10 more hours of live fire training on their issued sidearm, to further aid them in helping pass the pistol qualification. After passing their pistol qualification, Basic Agent Trainees move on to receive formal training on the DEA's standard-issue long guns and will continue to frequently shoot the agency-issued sidearms that they have already qualified on. In all, BATs receive a total of 32 firearms training sessions, when combining classroom instruction, gear issue, and pistol, rifle, and shotgun live fire training at the DEA Academy. They will shoot the qualification courses for all three weapons systems during their initial training but must pass their final qualification attempts only on their Glock pistols to become a Special Agent. Agents are trained to use shoulder-fired weapons, such as the Rock River LAR-15, adopted in 2004, and the LWRC M6A2, the standard carbine of DEA. The Colt 9mm SMG was previously issued, but no longer in service. Agents are required to complete a two-day (16-hour) proficiency course to carry a shoulder weapon on enforcement operations. They may carry a Rock River LAR-15 or LWRC carbine as authorized, personally-owned weapons, provided they meet the same training and proficiency standards.


Impact on the drug trade

In 2005, the DEA seized a reported $1.4 billion in drug trade related assets and $477 million worth of drugs. According to the White House's Office of Drug Control Policy, the total value of all of the drugs sold in the U.S. is as much as $64 billion a year, giving the DEA an efficiency rate of less than 1% at intercepting the flow of drugs into and within the United States. Critics of the DEA (including recipient of the
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...
,
Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...
, prior to his death a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) point out that demand for illegal drugs is inelastic; the people who are buying drugs will continue to buy them with little regard to price, often turning to crime to support expensive drug habits when the drug prices rise. One recent study by the DEA showed that the price of
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
and
methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...
is the highest it has ever been while the quality of both is at its lowest point ever. This is contrary to a collection of data done by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which states that purity of street drugs has increased, while price has decreased. In contrast to the statistics presented by the DEA, the United States Department of Justice released data in 2003 showing that purity of methamphetamine was on the rise.


Registration and licensing

The DEA has a registration system in place which authorizes anyone to manufacture, import, export, and distribute by filin
DEA form 225
along with medical professionals, researchers and manufacturers access to " Schedule I" drugs, as well as Schedules 2, 3, 4 and 5. Authorized registrants apply for and, if granted, receive a " DEA number". An entity that has been issued a DEA number is authorized to manufacture (drug companies), distribute research, prescribe (doctors,
pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...
s, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, etc.), or dispense (pharmacy) a controlled substance.


Diversion control system

Many problems associated with
substance use disorder Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs despite substantial harm and adverse consequences to self and others. Related terms include ''substance use problems'' and ''problematic drug or alcohol use''. Along with substance-ind ...
s are the result of legitimately manufactured controlled substances being diverted from their lawful purpose into the illicit drug traffic. Many of the analgesics, depressants and stimulants manufactured for legitimate medical use can often carry the potential for addiction. Therefore, those scheduled substances have been brought under legal control for prevention and population safety. The goal of controls is to ensure that these "controlled substances" are readily available for medical use while preventing their distribution for illicit distribution and non-medical use. This can be a difficult task, sometimes providing difficulty for legitimate patients and healthcare providers while circumventing illegal trade and consumption of scheduled drugs. Under federal law, all businesses which manufacture or distribute controlled drugs, all health professionals entitled to dispense, administer or prescribe them, and all
pharmacies Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
entitled to fill prescriptions must register with the DEA. Registrants must comply with a series of regulatory requirements relating to drug security, records accountability, and adherence to standards. All of these investigations are conducted by Diversion Investigators (DIs). DIs conduct investigations to uncover and investigate suspected sources of diversion and take appropriate civil and administrative actions. Prescription Database Management Programs (PDMP) aid and facilitate investigation and surveillance.


Fentanyl overdose crisis

In 2019 and 2020, record overdoses from illicit
fentanyl Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...
tablets or as a deadly
adulterant An adulterant is a substance secretly added to another that may compromise the safety or effectiveness. Typical substances that are adulterated include food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or fuels. Definition Adulteration is the practice of secre ...
in
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
have ravaged North America. An estimated 19,416 individuals died of a drug overdose in the United States in the first 3 months of 2020 compared with 16,682 in the same 3-month period in 2019; this trend was fueled by synthetic opioids (especially illicitly manufactured fentanyl and analogs). Furthermore, between May 2020 and April 2021, the estimated number of drug overdose deaths in the United States exceeded 100,000 over this time period, with 64.0% of deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (the same illicitly manufactured fentanyls and analogs). In contrast, Europe has seen a decrease from heroin overdoses, and a practical absence of illicit, synthetic opioids. Fentanyl, originally developed in the 1970s by
Janssen Pharmaceutica Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (formerly Janssen Pharmaceuticals) is a Belgian pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Ph ...
, is a potent anesthetic primarily used in hospital or hospice settings. In Europe, heroin is mainly supplied from
Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...
(from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and neighboring countries), and less likely to be contaminated with fentanyl. In North America, there are now fewer deaths involving heroin than either meth or cocaine, a striking change that has taken place over the last two years as heroin has all but disappeared from some regions. Due to the absence of heroin from Asian sources, fentanyl-laced heroin powder or tablets have filled that void. In October 2021, the US reported another record in fentanyl deaths, as federal agencies were unable to stem the tide of illicit, synthetic drugs entering the US. Originally, introduced to replace much of the white powder heroin in the Eastern United States, the drug continues to move further west. Between July 2019–December 2020, illicitly manufactured fentanyl involved deaths increased sharply in midwestern (33.1%), southern (64.7%), and western (93.9%) jurisdictions.


MDMA DEA scheduling overturn

In 1985
MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...
and its analogues were under review by the American government as a drug with a potential for addiction. During this time, several public hearings on the new drug were held by the DEA. Based on all of the evidence and facts presented at the time, the DEA's administrative law judge did not see MDMA and its analogues as being of large concern and recommended that they be placed in Schedule III. The DEA administrator, expressing concern for addictive potential, overruled the recommendation and ruled that MDMA be put in Schedule I, the
Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...
's most restrictive category.


Rank structure

The following is a listing of the rank structure found within the DEA (in ascending order): * Agents ** Agent Trainee **
Special Agent In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special ...
** Senior Special Agent ** Supervising Special Agent ** Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) ** Special Agent in Charge (SAC) * Management ** Assistant Administrator ** Associate Deputy Administrator ** Deputy Administrator ** Principal Deputy Administrator ** Chief of Staff ** Administrator


Line of duty deaths

54 DEA agents have been killed in the line of duty.


Criticism and controversies

The DEA has been criticized for placing highly restrictive schedules on a few drugs that researchers in the fields of
pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...
and medicine regard as having medical uses. Critics assert that some such decisions are motivated primarily by political factors stemming from the U.S. government's war on drugs and that many benefits of such substances remain unrecognized due to the difficulty of conducting scientific research. A counterpoint to that criticism is that under the
Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...
it is the
Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
(through the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
and the
National Institute on Drug Abuse The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a United States federal government research institute whose mission is to "advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual ...
), not the DEA, which has the legal responsibility to make scientific and medical determinations with respect to drug scheduling; no drug can be scheduled if the secretary of health and human services recommends against it on a scientific or medical basis, and no drug can be placed in the most restrictive schedule ( Schedule I) if DHHS finds that the drug has an accepted medical use. Jon Gettman's essay ''Science and the End of Marijuana Prohibition'' describes the DEA as "a fall guy to deflect responsibility from the key decision-makers" and opines, "HHS calls the shots when it comes to marijuana prohibition, and the cops at DEA and the general over at ONDCP take the heat." The DEA is also criticized for focusing on the operations from which it can seize the most money, namely the organized cross-border trafficking of
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. Some individuals contemplating the nature of the DEA's charter advise that, based on danger, the DEA should be most focused on cocaine. Others suggest that, based on
opiate An opiate is an alkaloid substance derived from opium (or poppy straw). It differs from the similar term ''opioid'' in that the latter is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain ( ...
popularity, the DEA should focus much more on prescription opiates used recreationally, which critics contend comes first before users switch to heroin. Practitioners who legally prescribe medicine however must possess a valid DEA license. According to federal law, the budget of the DEA Diversion Control Program is to be paid by these license fees. In 1984 a three-year license cost $25. In 2009 the fee for a three-year license was $551. Some have likened this approach to license fees unreasonable, "like making pilot licenses support the entire
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) budget." The renewal fee for 2020 as of October 1, 2020, is $888 for a three-year license. In 2005, the DEA estimated that it had over 4,000 informants without which they "could not effectively enforce the controlled substances laws of the United States." To gather information, agents permitted their informants to buy and sell drugs, engage in Medicaid fraud rings, and other illicit acts. Despite this, the DEA claims that they are "in compliance" with the rules for using informants to gather information about illicit activities.


Costs

The total budget of the DEA from 1972 to 2014, according to the agency website, was $50.6 billion. The agency had 11,055 employees in 2014. For the year 2014 the average cost per arrest made was $97,325.


Civil liberties

Others, such as former Republican congressman Ron Paul, the
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...
, The Libertarian Party and the Drug Policy Alliance criticize the very existence of the DEA and the war on drugs as both hostile, and contrary, to the concept of
civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...
by arguing that anybody should be free to put any substance they choose into their own bodies for any reason, particularly when legal drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and
prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication, prescription medicine or prescription-only medication) is a pharmaceutical drug that is permitted to be dispensed only to those with a medical prescription. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs c ...
s are also open to addiction, and that any harm caused by a drug user or addict to the general public is a case of conflicting civil rights. Recurrently, billions of dollars are spent yearly, focusing largely on
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...
and
demand reduction Demand reduction refers to efforts aimed at reducing the public desire for illegal and illicit drugs. The drug policy is in contrast to the reduction of drug supply, but the two policies are often implemented together. Some discussions of deman ...
campaigns, which has resulted in the imprisonment of thousands of U.S. citizens. Demand for recreational drugs is somewhat static as the market for most illegal drugs has been saturated, forcing the cartels to expand their market to Europe and other areas than the United States. United States federal law registers cannabis as a Schedule I drug.


Incarceration of Daniel Chong

In April 2012 in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, DEA agents detained a student, Daniel Chong, and left him locked in a holding room for five days. The cell contained no food, water or bathroom facilities."Student's ordeal: How was Daniel Chong lost in DEA detention?"
MSNBC, May 4, 2012
When he was found, he had to be hospitalized for several days for a variety of medical problems. The incident touched off a national furor, resulting in several investigations. The incident has been described as a "
Kafkaesque Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...
nightmare,""California Man's ‘Drug Holiday’ Becomes Four-Day Nightmare in Holding Cell"
, New York Times, May 2, 2012
a "debacle," and "one of the worst cases of its kind." Chong subsequently sued the DEA; the government settled the suit for $4.1 million.Stan Wilson

, CNN (July 30, 2013).


Department of Justice Smart on Crime Program

On August 12, 2013, at the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
's House of Delegates meeting, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the "Smart on Crime" program, which is "a sweeping initiative by the Justice Department that in effect renounces several decades of tough-on-crime anti-drug legislation and policies." Holder said the program "will encourage U.S. attorneys to charge defendants only with crimes "for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins..." Running through Holder's statements, the increasing economic burden of over-incarceration was stressed. , the Smart on Crime program is not a legislative initiative but an effort "limited to the DOJ's policy parameters."


International events

David Coleman Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani, June 30, 1960) who was working as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) simultaneously made periodic trips to Pakistan for LeT training and was one of the main conspirators in the
2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...
. On January 24, 2013, Headley, then 52 years old, was sentenced by U.S. district judge Harry Leinenweber of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to 35 years in prison for his part in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which at least 164 victims (civilians and security personnel) and nine attackers were killed. Among the dead were 28 foreign nationals from 10 countries. One attacker was captured. The bodies of many of the dead hostages showed signs of torture or disfigurement. A number of those killed were notable figures in business, media, and security services. The DEA was accused in 2005 by the
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
n
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of collaborating with drug traffickers, after which President
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
decided to end any collaboration with the agency. In 2007, after the U.S. State Department criticized Venezuela in its annual report on drug trafficking, the Venezuelan Minister of Justice reiterated the accusations: "A large quantity of drug shipments left the country through that organization. We were in the presence of a new
drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...
." In his 1996 series of articles and subsequent 1999 book, both titled Dark Alliance, journalist Gary Webb asserts that the DEA helped harbor Nicaraguan drug traffickers. Notably, they allowed Oscar Danilo Blandón political asylum in the USA despite knowledge of his cocaine-trafficking organization. The government of
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
has also taken similar steps to ban the DEA from operating in the country. In September 2008, Bolivia drastically reduced diplomatic ties with the United States, withdrawing its ambassador from the US and expelling the US ambassador from Bolivia. This occurred soon after Bolivian president
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
expelled all DEA agents from the country due to a revolt in the traditional coca-growing Chapare Province. The Bolivian government claimed that it could not protect the agents, and Morales further accused the agency of helping incite the violence, which claimed 30 lives. National agencies were to take over control of drug management. Three years later, Bolivia and the US began to restore full diplomatic ties. However, Morales maintained that the DEA would remain unwelcome in the country, characterising it as an affront to Bolivia's "dignity and sovereignty". In the Netherlands, both the Dutch government and the DEA have been criticized for violations of Dutch sovereignty in drug investigations. According to Peter R. de Vries, a Dutch journalist present at the 2005 trial of Henk Orlando Rommy, the DEA has admitted to activities on Dutch soil. Earlier, then Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner, had denied to the Dutch parliament that he had given permission to the DEA for any such activities, which would have been a requirement by Dutch law in order to allow foreign agents to act within the territory. The DEA conducted a covert operation over several years in which undercover operatives were sent to Venezuela to build drug-trafficking cases against Venezuela's leadership, including Nicholas Maduro. The plan was part of "Operation Money Badger", which the DEA and prosecutors in Miami created in 2013. It potentially breached Venezuelan and international law and therefore required the approval of the Sensitive Activity Review Committee, a secretive panel of senior State and Justice Department officials that oversees the most sensitive DEA cases involving tricky ethical, legal or foreign policy considerations. Following the Colombian peace process, which brought an end to the
Colombian conflict The Colombian conflict () began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates and far-left guerrilla groups fighting each other to increase their i ...
between the
Colombian government The Government of Colombia is a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and legislative branches. Its legislature has a congress, its judiciary has a supreme court, and its executive branch has a president. The citiz ...
and the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...
(FARC–EP), the Special Jurisdiction for Peace found that the DEA had plotted with Colombian Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez to fabricate drug trafficking charges against Jesús Santrich, in a bid to jeopardize the peace agreement by inciting the FARC to take up arms again.


Special Operations Division fabricated evidence trails

In 2013, ''
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
'' published a report about the DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) stating that it conceals where an investigative trail about a suspect truly originates from and creates a parallel set of evidence given to prosecutors, judges, and defense lawyers. This DEA program mainly affects common criminals such as drug dealers. The concealment of evidence means the defendant is unaware of how his or her investigation began and will be unable to request a review of possible sources of exculpatory evidence. Exculpatory evidence may include biased witnesses, mistakes, or entrapment. Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge who had served from 1994 to 2011 and a
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
professor, stated that "It is one thing to create special rules for national security. Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations." Andrew O'Hehir of ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
'' wrote that "It's the first clear evidence that the “special rules” and disregard for constitutional law that have characterized the hunt for so-called terrorists have crept into the domestic criminal justice system on a significant scale."


Cannabis rescheduling

A 2014 report by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and the Drug Policy Alliance accuses the DEA of unfairly blocking the removal of cannabis from Schedule I. The report alleges that the methods employed by the DEA to achieve this include: delaying rescheduling petitions for years, overruling DEA administrative law judges, and systematically impeding scientific research. The DEA continues to refuse the removal of cannabis from Schedule I despite wide-scale acceptance of the substance among the medical community, including 76% of doctors, for the treatment of various diseases.


Domestic anti-drug advocacy

The DEA, in addition to enforcement, also regularly engage in advocacy, specifically against rescheduling marijuana, by publishing policy-based papers on certain drugs. Figures such as Ifetayo Harvey, founder and executive of the People of Color Psychedelic Collective, have criticized the DEA for using tax dollars in what they call an attempt to change public opinion, a practice they call an overreach from the scope of the agency's job of enforcement. They claim that the DEA releasing such non-peer-reviewed reports is a transparent attempt to justify its own activities and that since it is not by law an advocacy group but rather a legal enforcement group, those press releases are tantamount to what they consider domestic propaganda.


Insufficient monitoring of David Headley

The DEA faced a major setback for not keeping stringent observation on Pakistani-American informant David Headley, for involvement in the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, as well as conspiring a terror attack on the Danish newspaper
Jyllands-Posten (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies.cartoons of Muhammad. Headley, while working with the DEA, took part in the plot by providing reconnaissance to the Pakistan based terror outfit
Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...
, which he was introduced to while visiting Pakistan. On January 24, 2013, a U.S. federal court eventually sentenced Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in Mumbai and Copenhagen.


Scheduling of psychedelic drugs

On January 14, 2022, the DEA proposed moving five unscheduled and relatively obscure
psychedelic drug Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluc ...
s of the
tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole—a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the firs ...
family, including 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, and DiPT, into the Schedule I controlled substances category in the United States. A large number of individuals and organizations from the psychedelic community and medical industry publicly challenged and opposed the proposal. On July 22, 2022, facing pressure, the DEA withdrew the proposal. In December 2023, the DEA announced a second attempt to schedule two other obscure and little-used psychedelic drugs, DOI and DOC. DOI is notable in being extensively used in
scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and medieval world. The ...
in the study of the
serotonin Serotonin (), also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a monoamine neurotransmitter with a wide range of functions in both the central nervous system (CNS) and also peripheral tissues. It is involved in mood, cognition, reward, learning, ...
5-HT2A receptor and psychedelic drugs, including as a standard radiolabel for serotonin 5-HT2A receptor
ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...
and
affinity Affinity may refer to: Commerce, finance and law * Affinity (law), kinship by marriage * Affinity analysis, a market research and business management technique * Affinity Credit Union, a Saskatchewan-based credit union * Affinity Equity Pa ...
studies and as a psychedelic drug in
animal studies Animal studies is a recently recognised field in which animals are studied in a variety of cross-disciplinary ways. Scholars who engage in animal studies may be formally trained in a number of diverse fields, including art history, anthropology ...
. The proposal again was met with opposition. Owing to very long durations (e.g., 16–30hours) that users find intolerable, DOI and other DOx drugs have seen very little recreational use. By attempting to schedule DOI and make it more difficult to access for research purposes in spite of it not being a significant drug of recreational use, the DEA has been accused of trying to interfere with or sabotage the field of psychedelic science and medicine. The developments have been covered by journalist Hamilton Morris and others.


Raids on medical marijuana dispensaries

The DEA has taken a particularly strong stance on enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act on persons and organizations acting within state laws that allow
medical cannabis Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...
cultivation and distribution. DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg has made negative comments on patients who use medical marijuana, saying he considers medical marijuana to be a "joke". As a reaction against the negative statements made by Rosenberg towards medical marijuana, an international online petition has been formed. More than 159,737 signatures have been gathered globally with the intention that Rosenberg be fired or forced to resign as head of DEA. "The people of California and the County of Santa Cruz have overwhelmingly supported the provision of
medical marijuana Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...
for people who have serious illnesses," county Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt told the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
''. "These people (blocking the road) are people with AIDS and cancer and other grave illnesses. To attack these people, who work collectively and have never taken money for their work, is outrageous." As a result, the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, with the City and County of Santa Cruz, had sued the DEA, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and the ONDCP. The most recent court decision rejected the government's motion to dismiss, which allowed discovery to move forward. The
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
hailed the decision as "a first-of-its-kind ruling." More recently, the DEA has escalated its enforcement efforts on the recently proliferated Los Angeles area medical cannabis collectives. On July 25, 2007, the DEA raided the California Patients Group, Hollywood Compassionate Collective, and Natural Hybrid (NHI Caregivers) in Hollywood, California. Earlier that day, the operators of those collectives participated in a press conference with LA City Council members announcing the city's intention to regulate the collectives and asking the DEA to halt raids on collectives while the City drafted regulations. The dispensary operator of Natural Hybrid (NHI Caregivers) was forced to close down the collective due to the tremendous loss caused by the DEA conducted joint task force raid against them.


Project Cassandra

In 2008 the Special Operations part of the agency launched a multi-agency effort named Project Cassandra to investigate
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
for allegations of illicit drug trafficking and terrorist financing. The investigation identified an Iranian cell in the U.S. which worked in concert with a Lebanese bank called the Lebanese Canadian Bank to launder money using the purchase of used automobiles exported to Africa. Project Cassandra also identified hemispheric drug syndicates involved in cocaine trafficking in order to finance Hezbollah activities. The Department of Justice issued several sealed indictments but declined to seize, prosecute, extradite, or further investigate likely targets of these alleged foreign criminal activities operating in the United States due to White House diplomatic objectives involving the international nuclear agreement with Iran. On December 22, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of prior cases in the project.


DEA Museum

In 1999, the DEA opened the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum in
Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
. The original permanent exhibit – Illegal Drugs in America: A Modern History – remains the museum's centerpiece. The exhibit features "the more than 150 year history of drugs and drug abuse and the DEA," including a considerable collection of drug paraphernalia and an image of a smiling drug vendor under the heading "Jimmy's Joint".


In popular culture

The DEA are commonly featured in
crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
films and TV, as both protagonists and antagonists. *
Hank Schrader Henry R. "Hank" Schrader Assistant Special Agent in Charge, ASAC () is a central character in the American crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' portrayed by Dean Norris and created by Vince Gilligan. An agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration ...
is one of the main protagonists in AMC's ''
Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
''. He is both a DEA agent (later promoted to ASAC) and brother-in-law to drug kingpin Walter White, unknowingly investigating Walt's alter-ego Heisenberg for the duration of the show. * Javier Peña and Stephen Murphy are two of the main protagonists in Netflix's '' Narcos''. They are responsible for the capture and killing of the Colombian drug lord
Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...
on December 2, 1993, of which the show was based on. * Norman Stansfield leads a team of corrupt DEA agents, who along with the NYPD, hunt an assassin in the 1994 movie '' Léon: The Professional''. * In the film ''
Sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...
'', a group of special agents with the DEA's Special Operations Team, are hunted down after stealing a large amount of cartel cash during a raid. * Alex Walker, the protagonist of the crime show Almost Paradise is a retired DEA agent who uses his expertise to work alongside the
Mactan Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova. The island is ...
Police Department in fighting crime.


See also

* DEA Purple Heart Award * Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (former Colombian counterpart) * Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. State Department *
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) * Federal Drug Control Service (Russian former counterpart) * Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) *
List of United States federal law enforcement agencies The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies (informally known as the "Feds") to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole. While the majority of ...
* Main Directorate for Drugs Control (Russian counterpart) * Office of Criminal Investigations * Operation Money Badger * Operation Panama Express * Operation Tiburon (most successful counter-drug operation) * Regulation of therapeutic goods in the United States *
Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 is the portion of the Code of Federal Regulations that governs food and drugs within the United States for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Office of National Drug Control Policy ...
*
U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...
(CBP)


References


Further reading

* Harry J. Anslinger and Will Oursler (1961). ''The Murderers: The Story of the Narcotic Gangs''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. * Edward Jay Epstein (1977).
Agency of Fear: Opiates and Political Power in America
'. New York: Putnam. * King, Rufus (1972).

' * Luno, Natha

. TheDEA.og. *

��Schaffer Library of Drug Policy * Smith, Wayne (2012). ''Waffle House Diaries''. Chattanooga, TN: Bluehotel Press.


External links

* **
DEA Tip Line

Drug Enforcement Administration
in the
Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...

List of former DEA Administrators

Office of Diversion Control





DrugEnforcementEdu.org

Get Smart About Drugs – A DEA Resource for Parents

DEA Demand Reduction – Street Smart Prevention

DEA Museum
{{authority control Drug control law enforcement agencies Federal law enforcement agencies of the United States United States Department of Justice agencies Drug control law in the United States United States intelligence agencies Government agencies established in 1973 1973 establishments in Washington, D.C.