30 Facts About DEA

1.

The DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing US drug investigations both domestically and abroad.

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2.

In February 2003, the DEA established a Digital Evidence Laboratory within its Office of Forensic Sciences.

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3.

DEA is headed by an Administrator of Drug Enforcement appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the US Senate.

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4.

DEA's headquarters is located in Arlington, Virginia, across from the Pentagon.

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5.

DEA Aviation Division or Office of Aviation Operations is an airborne division based in Fort Worth Alliance Airport, Texas.

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6.

Rapid Response Teams, previously known as Foreign-Deployed Advisory and Support Teams, were decommissioned by DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenburg in March 2017 via memorandum.

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7.

DEA officially created and standardized its Special Response Team program in 2016.

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8.

The DEA SRT has been involved in several high-profile operations in recent years DEA involvement is often not publicized due to operational and intelligence considerations.

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9.

DEA Special Operations Division 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.

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10.

In 2014, the DEA spent $73,000 to eradicate marijuana plants in Utah, though they did not find a single marijuana plant.

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11.

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.

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12.

The DEA has one of the most challenging handgun qualification courses in all of the federal law enforcement.

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13.

One recent study by the DEA showed that the price of cocaine and methamphetamine is the highest it has ever been while the quality of both is at its lowest point ever.

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14.

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.

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15.

DEA has a registration system in place which authorizes anyone to manufacture, import, export, and distribute by filing DEA form 225 Archived November 8,2015, at the Wayback Machine along with medical professionals, researchers and manufacturers access to "Schedule I" drugs, as well as Schedules 2,3,4 and 5.

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16.

The DEA administrator, expressing concern for addictive potential, overruled the recommendation and ruled that MDMA be put in Schedule I, the Controlled Substances Act's most restrictive category.

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17.

DEA has been criticized for placing highly restrictive schedules on a few drugs that researchers in the fields of pharmacology and medicine regard as having medical uses.

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18.

DEA is criticized for focusing on the operations from which it can seize the most money, namely the organized cross-border trafficking of marijuana.

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19.

Some individuals contemplating the nature of the DEA's charter advise that, based on danger, the DEA should be most focused on cocaine.

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20.

An April 2012 DEA raid on a California home led to the incarceration of Daniel Chong for several days under conditions of neglect.

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21.

DEA was taken to the hospital, where he spent three days in intensive care because his kidneys were close to failing.

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22.

DEA's attorney stated an intent to file a claim against the federal government and some members of California's delegation to the Congress called for further investigation of the incident.

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23.

DEA was accused in 2005 by the Venezuelan government of collaborating with drug traffickers, after which President Hugo Chavez decided to end any collaboration with the agency.

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24.

However, Morales maintained that the DEA would remain unwelcome in the country, characterising it as an affront to Bolivia's "dignity and sovereignty".

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25.

Some have criticized the DEA for using tax dollars in what they call an attempt to change public opinion, which they call an overreach from the scope of the agency's job of enforcement, and that by releasing such non-peer-reviewed reports is a transparent attempt to justify its own activities.

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26.

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 cultivation and distribution.

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27.

On July 25,2007, the DEA raided the California Patients Group, Hollywood Compassionate Collective, and Natural Hybrid in Hollywood, California.

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28.

In 1999, the DEA opened the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum in Arlington, Virginia.

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29.

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".

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30.

DEA are commonly featured in crime drama films and TV, as both protagonists and antagonists.

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