Intelligence forum post

U.S. Counter-narcotics Agencies

Numerous agencies support the United States’ counter-narcotics mission. Many federal, state, and local organizations collect and/or produce counter-narcotics intelligence while some agencies use the intelligence collected by these organizations to carry out their specific role. Additionally, some agencies contribute counter-narcotics intelligence information that they collect as a by-product of their non-narcotics related mission. Together, these organizations comprise the United States’ counter-narcotics team. In addition, some agencies’ counter-narcotics missions are intelligence related, some are law enforcement related, and some are both.

Primary agencies with major counter-narcotics missions are Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard. Other agencies with significant involvement in counter-narcotics operations include Federal Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Other agencies critical in countering the threat from illicit drugs within the United States include CIA (CNC), DIA, NSA, NGA, NRO DOS and ONI. Finally, several major joint efforts contribute to the overall counter-narcotics missions. These include ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, DOJ’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces program, and DOD’s Joint Inter-Agency Task Forces. (Note that these are general delineations. The increasing collaboration with the intelligence community has afforded some leeway in these designations, particularly regarding national security issues. Also, increased collaborate between federal law enforcement agencies and state and local law enforcement further blurs the jurisdiction lines.)

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

The DEA is the primary federal agency responsible for enforcing federal drug laws. The mission of the DEA is “to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets” (DEA).

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)

The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is the lead federal agency within the for maritime law enforcement, to include drug interdiction. The Coast Guard's mission is “to reduce the supply of drugs from the source by denying smugglers the use of air and maritime routes in the Transit Zone, a six million square mile area, including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific” (USCG).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

CBP is also part of DHS and is responsible for protecting the land and sea borders of the United States. CBP patrols the borders to intercept illegal people and goods (to include illicit drugs) being smuggled into the country. CBP has an almost poetic mission in how it is written; it has 6 points, with the following relative to counter-narcotics efforts: “We safeguard the American homeland at and beyond our borders” and “We steadfastly enforce the laws of the United States while fostering our Nation’s economic security through lawful international trade and travel” (CBP).

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

ICE, the investigative agency within DHS, investigates threats to national security as they relate to people and goods coming into the country. ICE's mission is “to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration” (ICE).

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

The FBI is responsible for investigating criminal activities, to include violations of federal drug law. The FBI states their mission as the following: “As an intelligence-driven and a threat-focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities, the mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners” (FBI).

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

FinCEN collects financial information and provides potential money laundering activities to law enforcement in support counter-narcotics (and other criminal) investigations. The mission of the FinCEN is “to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities” (FinCEN).

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)

Department of State’s INL is the counter-narcotics entity within State. It focuses primarily on international counter-narcotics issues through working with foreign governments and enacting policies and programs related to counter-drug related issues. The mission of the INL is “to minimize the impact of international crime and illegal drugs on the United States, its citizens, and partner nations by providing effective foreign assistance and fostering global cooperation.” (INL).

Several other U.S. intelligence organizations also participate in the counter-narcotics mission of the United States, such as Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. These organizations use their assets to combat a broad range of national security threats, to include the illicit drug trade. They collect intelligence relating to illicit drug activity and participate in analysis and support of counter-narcotics operations. They often work in concert with each as well as with other federal agencies to combat specific national security threats. These agencies meet periodically to work on a short-term intelligence products or operations. They are also co-located at strategic locations to work on long-term projects or mission.

Joint Organizations

There are numerous joint organizations, often function as investigative task forces, that work on counter-narcotics missions – from local to regional and national levels. These organizations bring together not only information from various agencies but personnel with varied skills, which together greatly improve the effectiveness of operations. Many of the disruptions and dismantling of large drug trafficking organizations is the result of collaborative efforts from numerous federal as well as state, local, and tribal law enforcing agencies. I am highlighting only a few of these organizations here, focusing on those that have a national-level impact. Keep in mind that collaborative efforts exist from the local level on up to the global level.

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA)

ONDCP funds the HIDTA program to provide additional federal resources for state and local law enforcement agencies in areas of the country designated as having serious drug trafficking problems. The HIDTA program facilitates coordination with federal, state, and local agencies to enhance counter-narcotics investigations in these areas. Many investigations in these areas are carried out through the joint environment of the HIDTA.

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)

The OCDETF program focuses resources on the major drug traffickers that smuggle and distribute illicit drugs in the United States. OCDETF develops the list of major traffickers, updating it annually to keep it current. It then coordinates efforts of various federal agencies to investigate and dismantle these major organizations.

Joint Inter-Agency Task Forces

The JIATFs use Department of Defense (DOD) resources to conduct detection and monitoring operations in the Eastern Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic waters to support law enforcement efforts to disrupt international drug trafficking. DOD assets play a significant role in detection and monitoring of illicit drug traffickers using air and maritime methods of transportation. Specifically, the JIATFs provide tactical and operational intelligence as well as physical resources to interdict illicit drug shipments en route to the United States, primarily via water and, to a lesser extent, air.

Collaboration among federal agencies as well as between federal and state and local agencies relies heavily on intelligence sharing. Beyond direct cooperation in an investigation, several organizations exist to support intelligence sharing. FinCEN provides financial information to law enforcement agencies that request it. The OCDETF Fusion Center has a comprehensive data center that supports OCDETF investigations through information sharing. DEA’s El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) is a tactical intelligence center comprised of resources and database information from federal, state, and local agencies. The HIDTAs provide information sharing and deconfliction. RISS or Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) was developed to support investigative efforts by providing information and intelligence sharing resources, investigative support and analytical services, and deconfliction to state and local agencies (RISS).

For your readings this week, note that I have several documents that discuss each agency individually. This is information pulled from each agency’s webpage and is meant to give you a brief description of each. Feel free to go the agency’s webpage to learn more. (This is not required, but for furthering your own knowledge). The GAO Overview document is included because it gives a great synopsis of each agency’s counter-narcotics activities. However, please note that the information is undated for some agencies. For instance, DHS had not been created yet, so CBP and ICE are different entities now under DHS. Also, the National Drug Intelligence Center was closed down in 2012 and its functions transferred to DEA. I wanted to include the document because it is very comprehensive and detailed and provides an excellent idea of counter-narcotics operations and intelligence activities. So, as you read, keep this in mind.

References/Works Sited:

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. http://www.state.gov/j/inl/narc/index.htm.

Drug Enforcement Administration. http://www.justice.gov/dea/about/mission.shtml.

Federal Bureau of Investigations. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/quick-facts

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. http://www.fincen.gov/about_fincen/wwd/mission.html.

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/high-intensity-drug-trafficking-areas-program.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement. http://www.ice.gov/about/overview/.

Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South http://www.southcom.mil/ourmissions/Pages/Countering%20Transnational%20Organized%20Crime.aspx.

Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-West. http://www.pacom.mil/organization/staff-directorates/jiatf-west/.

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. http://www.justice.gov/criminal/taskforces/ocdetf.html.

Regional Information Sharing Systems. http://www.riss.net/.

U.S. Coast Guard. http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg531/drug_interdiction.asp.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection. http://www.dhs.gov/border-security-overview.