Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force#History
{{Short description|Federal drug enforcement program in the United States}}
{{Infobox law enforcement agency
| logo = OCDETF Logo.png
| motto = Stronger Through Partnership
| formed = 1982
| employees = 2,464 total, including 1195 Special Agents and 543 Attorneys (Authorized FY2023)
| budget = $550.5 M USD (Authorized FY2023)
| country = United States of America
| chief1name = Adam W. Cohen
| chief1position = Director
| website = {{URL|https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf}}
}}
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the United States, overseen by the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the major drug trafficking operations and tackle related crimes, such as money laundering, tax and weapon violations, and violent crime, and prosecute those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.{{cite web | title =About OCDETF | publisher =USDOJ | url =https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf | access-date =2006-10-25}}
History
In 1982, responding to concerns about the increasing crack epidemic, President Ronald Reagan intensified the war on drugs.{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Michelle |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/320803432 |title=The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness |date=2010 |publisher=New Press ; Distributed by Perseus Distribution |isbn=978-1-59558-103-7 |location=New York : [Jackson, Tenn.] |pages=5 |oclc=320803432}}
In January 1982, Reagan designated Vice President George H. W. Bush to lead a cross-agency drug interdiction team called the South Florida Task Force. The impetus was a surge of cocaine and cannabis entering through the Miami region, and the sharp rise in related crime. The operation involved the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Customs Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies, and Armed Forces ships and planes. It was called the "most ambitious and expensive drug enforcement operation" in US history. By 1986, the task force had made over 15,000 arrests and seized millions of pounds of drugs. However, law enforcement agents said their impact was minimal, and that cocaine imports had increased. A Bush spokesperson emphasized disrupting smuggling routes rather than seizure quantities as the measure of success{{Cite web |last=Brinkley |first=Joel |date=Sep 4, 1986 |title=4-Year Fight in Florida 'Just Can't Stop Drugs' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/04/us/4-year-fight-in-florida-just-can-t-stop-drugs.html |access-date=Apr 24, 2024 |website=New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Pincus |first=Walter |date=October 7, 1982 |title=War on Florida Drug Smugglers Is Costly, Political, Makes a Dent |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/10/08/war-on-florida-drug-smugglers-is-costly-political-makes-a-dent/11fcc04d-c20b-4176-bed7-06547f1d8675/ |access-date=Apr 24, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post}}{{Cite web |last=President's Commission on Organized Crime |date=1986 |title=America's Habit: Drug Abuse, Drug Trafficking, & Organized Crime{{snd}}Chapter V Drug Enforcement, Policy, and Reducing Drug Demand |url=https://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/govpubs/amhab/amhabc5.htm |access-date=Apr 24, 2024 |website=Shaffer Library of Drug Policy}} According to an agency history by Rudy Giuliani, the task force was a success, while drug smuggling had moved to new ports as evidenced by larger seizures elsewhere.{{Cite journal |last=Giuliani |first=Rudolph W. |date=1985 |title=Organizing Law Enforcement as Well as Organized Crime |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3135025 |journal=Public Administration Review |volume=45 |pages=712–717 |doi=10.2307/3135025 |issn=0033-3352 |jstor=3135025|url-access=subscription }}
Desiring a more comprehensive, nationwide attack to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the US, Reagan announced the formation of the OCDETF Program on October 14, 1982.{{cite web |title=Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) |url=https://www.dea.gov/operations/ocdetf |access-date=2016-10-25 |publisher=Drug Enforcement Administration}}{{Cite web |date=1986-07-17 |title=Drug Investigations: Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program: A Coordinating Mechanism |url=https://www.gao.gov/products/ggd-86-73br |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=www.gao.gov |publisher=Government Accountability Office |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Reagan |first=Ronald |date=1982-10-14 |title=Remarks Announcing Federal Initiatives Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-announcing-federal-initiatives-against-drug-trafficking-and-organized-crime |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |language=en}}{{Blockquote|text=These task forces, under the direction of the Attorney General, will work closely with State and local law enforcement officials. Following the south Florida example, they'll utilize the resources of the Federal Government, including the FBI, the DEA, the IRS, the ATF, Immigration and Naturalization Service, United States Marshals Services, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Coast Guard. In addition, in some regions Department of Defense tracking and pursuit capability will be made available.
I believe that these task forces will allow us to mount an intensive and coordinated campaign against international and domestic drug trafficking and other organized criminal enterprises.|author=Ronald Reagan|title=Remarks Announcing Federal Initiatives Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime|multiline=true}}
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement appeared in congressional appropriation legislation as a part of the United States Department of Justice budget with the Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 1983, introduced in December 1982."Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 1983" {{USStatute|97|377|96|1830|8=hjr|9=631}}
Role and responsibilities
The OCDETF is the centerpiece of the Attorney General's drug supply reduction strategy. It is funded through the annual Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement (ICDE) appropriation of the Department of Justice. It describes its mission is "to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the United States and diminish the associated violence and other transnational organized criminal activities, including violent street gangs,{{cite web | title=United States Attorneys' Bulletin | website=National Gang Center | date=May 1, 2014 | url=https://nationalgangcenter.ojp.gov/library/publications/united-states-attorneys-bulletin-gang-prosecutions | access-date=September 30, 2023}} that present the greatest threat to public safety as well as economic and national security."{{Cite web |title=FY 2021 Budget and Performance Summary |url=https://www.justice.gov/doj/page/file/1246581/download |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211044609/https://www.justice.gov/doj/page/file/1246581/download |archive-date=2020-02-11 |access-date=2022-05-25}}
= Organization =
The OCDETF consists of an Executive Office, which coordinates the drug enforcement efforts of multiple agencies from several cabinet departments including:
- Department of Justice
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- United States Marshals Service
- Department of Homeland Security
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- U.S. Coast Guard
- U.S. Secret Service
- Department of Labor
- Office of the Inspector General
File:OCDETF_Strike_Forces_Locations.png
Enforcement efforts are conducted through the DOJ Criminal Division; the 94 United States Attorneys Offices; and other Federal, State, local, tribal, and international law enforcement agencies.
Geographically, the OCDETF is organized into nine regions, each with its own Advisory Council and Coordination Group. These groups set policies and priorities for their regions and conduct final review of cases proposed for OCDETF designation. At the district level, District Coordination Groups review cases proposed for OCDETF designation, ensure appropriate resource allocation, and monitor local case progress.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-13 |title=FY 2023 Congressional Submission Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement |url=https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1492361/download |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525170845/https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1492361/download |archive-date=2022-05-25 |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=U.S. Department of Justice}}
== Regions ==
Each of the ninety-three federal judicial districts is placed into one of nine OCDETF regions based on geographic proximity. Within each region, a "core city" was designated.{{cite web |title=Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Region |url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs26/26594/ocdetf.htm |access-date=2017-03-08 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice}}
| border="1"
| Task Force Region | Core City |
| New England | Boston |
| New York/New Jersey | New York City |
| Mid-Atlantic | Baltimore |
| Great Lakes | Chicago |
| Southeast | Atlanta |
| West Central | St. Louis |
| Florida/Caribbean | Miami |
| Southwest | Houston |
| Pacific | San Francisco |
= Targeting through CPOT and RPOT =
The OCDETF coordinates the annual formulation of the Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) List, a multi-agency target list of "command and control" elements of the most prolific international drug trafficking and money laundering organizations nationally. The OCDETF also requires its participants to identify major Regional Priority Organization Targets (RPOT) as part of an annual Regional Strategic Plan process.{{Cite web |date=2014-12-15 |title=Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/drug-violent-crime/ocdetf-program |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}
= Fusion Center and Intelligence and Operations Center =
Established by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program in 2004, the OCDETF Fusion Center (OFC) is a multi-agency intelligence center designed to provide intelligence information to investigations and prosecutions focused on disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.{{Cite web |date=March 2014 |title=Review of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Fusion Center |url=https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2014/e1402.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009233816/https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2014/e1402.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-09 |access-date=2022-05-25 |publisher=United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General}}
In May 2009, the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Council established the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2) to marshal the resources and information of federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to collectively combat the threats posed by international criminal organizations. In recognition of the demonstrated interrelationship between criminal organizations that engage in illicit drug trafficking and those that engage in international organized crime involving a broader range of criminal activity, the IOC-2 works in close partnership with the OFC and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Operations Division (a member of the United States Intelligence Community). The IOC-2 is co-located with the OFC and shares access to the OFC’s database. Its products are indistinguishable from OFC products except that they focus on targets under investigation for a broader variety of criminal activity than just illicit drug trafficking.
Milestones
From the formation of the organization to 2006, OCDETF operations have led to more than 44,000 drug-related convictions and the seizure of over $3 billion in monetary and property assets.{{cite web| title =Executive Office for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force | publisher =U.S. Department of Justice | url =http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ocdetf.html | access-date =2006-10-25 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061001163729/http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ocdetf.html |archive-date = 2006-10-01}}
The United States Department of Justice Criminal Division's s Office of Enforcement Operations reviews DOJ components' Title III wiretap applications. In the three year span of calendar years 2016, 2017, and 2018 there were 6,964 OCDETF-related Title III applications.{{Cite web |title=Reviews of the Annual Accounting of Drug Control Funds and Related Performance Fiscal Year 2018 {{!}} U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General |url=https://oig.justice.gov/reports/reviews-annual-accounting-drug-control-funds-and-related-performance-fiscal-year-2018 |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=oig.justice.gov}}
= Investigations and prosecutions =
In budget materials submitted to Congress, the OCDETF has provided measurements of its Investigation and prosecution statistics.
| class="wikitable"
|+Performance Measures to Congress !Measure |
| Active investigations
|4,685 |4,822 |5,076 |4,910 |
| New investigations initiated
|956 |947 |888 |837 |
| Defendants Indicted
|9,756 |10,308 |8,149 |8,293 |
| Defendants convicted
|7,611 |8,082 |5,981 |5,778 |
See also
External links
[https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf Official website]
= [[Government Accountability Office]] reports =
- GGD-87-29BR "[https://www.gao.gov/products/ggd-87-64br Criminal Penalties Resulting From the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces]." Published: Dec 22, 1986
- GGD-87-64BR "[https://www.gao.gov/products/ggd-87-64br Drug Investigations: Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program's Accomplishments]." Published: May 06, 1987
- OSI-89-19 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/osi-89-19 Nontraditional Organized Crime: Law Enforcement Officials' Perspectives on Five Criminal Groups]." Published: Sep 29, 1989.
- GGD-94-143 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/ggd-94-143 INS Drug Task Force Activities: Federal Agencies Supportive of INS Efforts]." Published: Jul 07, 1994
- GAO-01-78 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-01-78 Illegal Aliens: INS Participation in Antigang Task Forces in Los Angeles]." Published: Oct 26, 2000
- GAO-05-122 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-05-122 Drug Control: High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas' Efforts to Link Investigations to International Drug Traffickers]." Published: Jan 28, 2005
- GAO-09-63 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-09-63 Drug Control: Better Coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and an Updated Accountability Framework can Further Enhance DEA's Efforts to Meet Post-9/11 Responsibilities]." Published: Mar 20, 2009
- GAO-18-10 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-18-10 Counternarcotics: Overview of U.S. Efforts in the Western Hemisphere]." Published: Oct 13, 2017
- GAO-18-205 "[https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-18-205 Illicit Opioids: While Greater Attention Given to Combating Synthetic Opioids, Agencies Need to Better Assess their Efforts]." Published: Mar 29, 2018
References
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Category:Law enforcement in the United States
Category:Drug Enforcement Administration
Category:Drug_control_law_enforcement_agencies
Category:Federal law enforcement agencies of the United States
Category:United States Department of Justice agencies
Category:Drug control law in the United States
Category:United States intelligence agencies