REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION’S INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT DIVISION AUDIT REPORT 07-19 FEBRUARY 2007 REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION’S INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS* EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is the primary federal agency responsible for investigating illicit drug trafficking organizations operating within the United States. The ultimate goal of the DEA’s efforts is to significantly disrupt drug trafficking operations and to dismantle the criminal organizations entirely, while ultimately bringing their leaders to prosecution, either in the United States or through another country’s judicial system. In order to combat the highest priority drug trafficking organizations, the DEA must extend its operations to other countries where major drug traffickers live and preside over illegal operations. As a result, the DEA has 751 employees in 59 other countries who work with foreign law enforcement agencies, as well as with other U.S. agencies operating in the international arena, to accomplish its mission.1 To support its personnel and operations abroad, in fiscal year (FY) 2006 the DEA had a budget of $312 million for its international operations. The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted this audit of the DEA’s international operations. The objectives of the audit were to: (1) review the DEA’s foreign office performance, including its efforts to track operational activity and its internal mechanisms for evaluating the performance of its foreign operations; (2) examine the DEA’s involvement and management of international investigative activity; (3) assess the DEA’s relationships with its law enforcement counterparts abroad, including its liaison associations and the exchange of information; (4) analyze the DEA’s processes and controls over foreign administrative functions, including those related to security, firearms, property management, and fiscal matters; and (5) review the training provided or coordinated by the DEA to its foreign counterparts and DEA personnel stationed abroad. * The full version of this report includes information that the DEA considered to be law enforcement sensitive and therefore could not be publicly released. To create this public version of the report, the OIG redacted (deleted) the portions of the full report that were considered sensitive by the DEA and indicated where those redactions were made. 1 The 751 employee figure represents the number of allocated positions as of May 2006. REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION Our review included work at DEA headquarters components and at 10 DEA foreign offices in 5 countries: Colombia, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, and Turkey. Our methodology involved selecting locations that would provide a broad overall perspective of DEA’s international operations, including diverse geographic location, jurisdiction, operational activity, and personnel composition. During our field visits abroad, we interviewed DEA personnel as well as representatives from U.S. and foreign agencies who work with the DEA internationally. We also reviewed pertinent DEA documentation and analyzed data from DEA databases. Appendix I contains additional details related to our audit objectives, scope, and methodology. Background In 2002, DOJ created a register of the United State’s most significant illicit drug trafficking targets called the Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) list. According to DOJ officials, this list is updated at least annually based on a collection of intelligence from various agencies, and since its inception the CPOT list has contained a total of 80 targets, none of whom resided in the United States. As of June 2006, the list included 46 targets. Since the current DEA Administrator took office in 2003, the DEA has increased its number of foreign offices, bolstered its international funding, and augmented the number of personnel assigned to combat foreign drug trafficking and organizations. Since 1997, the DEA has increased its foreign allocated personnel by 195 positions, from 556 to 751. The DEA’s foreign budget has increased from $201 million in FY 2000 to $312 million in FY 2006. Moreover, the percentage growth in the DEA’s international operations budget has outpaced that of its overall budget, as shown in the following graph. DEA BUDGET PERCENTAGE GROWTH SINCE FY 2000 TOTAL BUDGET vs INTERNATIONAL BUDGET Total Budget International Budget 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% -10% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 (projected) Source: OIG analysis of Drug Enforcement Administration budget figures ii REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION According to the DEA, it only opens offices in countries that are in some way tied to the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. This includes countries that are a source of drugs or precursor chemicals, countries where significant money laundering occurs, or countries that are linked to drug trafficking organizations that threaten the United States.2 The host country, the U.S. Chief of Mission, and Congress must authorize the DEA to open a new foreign office. As a sovereign state, any host country may withdraw this permission at any time. In addition, the DEA’s legal operating ability in other countries is much different than in its domestic offices because DEA agents stationed overseas do not have law enforcement jurisdiction. DEA’s authorities differ from country to country depending on host-country laws, agreements between governments, international treaties, and local policies issued to U.S. agencies by the U.S. Ambassador. Despite different working environments in its foreign offices, the DEA maintains five principal objectives for working with foreign counterpart agencies: (1) participate in bilateral investigations, (2) cultivate and maintain quality liaison relations, (3) promote and contribute to foreign institution building, (4) support intelligence gathering and sharing efforts, and (5) provide training opportunities. In 2007, the DEA intends to open new offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan. In addition, the DEA has received congressional approval to open an office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The DEA is also working with the government of Mexico to obtain its authorization for the opening of congressionally approved offices in Matamoros, Nogales, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The placement of DEA’s international offices as of June 2006 is shown on the following map. 2 Precursor chemicals are materials used in the manufacture of a controlled substance. iii REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION DEA Foreign Offices (as of June 2006)3 Source: Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of International Programs 3 The office in Warsaw, Poland, opened in 2006. The future offices identified in Mexico are pending approval from the government of Mexico. iv REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION In foreign countries, DEA offices are part of the U.S. Embassy mission and may be housed within or outside the Embassy or the Consulate. The primary DEA office in another country is referred to as the DEA Country Office and secondary offices are called Resident Offices. A typical DEA foreign office is staffed by Special Agents, Intelligence Research Specialists, administrative support personnel, and foreign national hires, also known as foreign service nationals (FSNs).4 The senior DEA position in each Country Office is the DEA Country Attaché. In addition to reporting to DEA management, the DEA Country Attaché must also report to the U.S. Ambassador on DEA matters and activities within the host country. The DEA has divided its foreign offices into seven regions that were established based upon the trafficking trends and environments of the various countries. These regions are managed by Regional Directors who are located within certain DEA foreign offices. A Regional Director has overall responsibility for the activities of DEA Country Offices and Resident Offices in multiple countries. For example, the DEA Regional Director for the Andean Region is located in Bogotá, Colombia, and is responsible for countries predominantly located along the northern portion of the Andes mountain range in South America, including Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The seven regions and the location of the Regional Director’s office are shown below. DEA Foreign Region Regional Director Location Andean Bogotá, Colombia European Rome, Italy Mexico/Central America Mexico City, Mexico Far East Bangkok, Thailand Middle East Ankara, Turkey Southern Cone La Paz, Bolivia Caribbean San Juan, Puerto Rico5 Performance Management In this audit, we reviewed DEA data related to the success of its foreign offices’ highest priority cases, which are labeled Priority Target 4 Foreign service nationals are non-U.S. citizens who enter into employment contracts with U.S. government offices abroad, including DEA foreign offices. 5 The Caribbean Region is managed by the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s San Juan Division, which the DEA considers a domestic office with oversight responsibility for DEA domestic and foreign offices in the Caribbean. This Special Agent in Charge effectively performs the function of a Regional Director for the DEA’s Caribbean Region. v REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION REDACTED – PUBLIC VERSION Organizations (PTO).6 According to this data, as