Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in the 1990s (Testimony,
07/29/1999, GAO/T-GGD-99-149).
High demand for illegal drugs in the United States has persisted
throughout the 1990s, as has the flow of illegal drugs into this
country. The cost of illegal drug use in this country has been pegged at
about $110 billion annually, including lost jobs and productivity,
health problems, and economic hardships to families. Also, many violent
crimes are drug related. Funding for federal drug control efforts has
risen by nearly 50 percent during the 1990s, reaching about $18 billion
in fiscal year 1999. Funding for the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) nearly doubled, from $806 million in 1990 to about $1.5 billion in
1999. DEA staff grew from 6,000 in 1990 to 8,400 in 1998. During the
1990s, DEA strengthened many of its operations. The agency began to work
more closely with state and local law enforcement and help combat
drug-related violent crime in local communities. DEA intercepted the
communications of drug trafficking groups at home and abroad in order to
target their leaders and dismantle their operations. DEA began to
participate in two interagency programs to investigate major drug
trafficking groups in Latin America and Asia. DEA also changed its
foreign operations by screening and training special foreign policy
units to combat drug trafficking in key foreign countries. DEA has major
responsibilities under the Office of National Drug Control Policy's
national drug control strategy for reducing the drug supply. However,
DEA has yet to develop measurable performance targets for its programs
and initiatives that are consistent with those adopted for the national
strategy. Consequently, it is difficult to assess how successful DEA's
programs have been in reducing the supply of illegal drugs into the
United States. This testimony summarizes the July 1999 report,
GAO/GGD-99-108.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: T-GGD-99-149
TITLE: Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in the 1990s
DATE: 07/29/1999
SUBJECT: Drug trafficking
International relations
Narcotics
Performance measures
Strategic planning
Law enforcement
Federal/state relations
Interagency relations
Organized crime
National policies
IDENTIFIER: National Drug Control Strategy
DEA Mobile Enforcement Team Program
DOJ Violent Crime Reduction Program
DEA Kingpin Strategy
DEA Linear Approach Program
DEA Linkage Approach Program
DEA State and Local Task Force Program
DOJ Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program
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United States General Accounting Office GAO
Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Crime Committee on the
Judiciary House of Representatives For Release on Delivery
Expected at 9:30 a.m. EDT DRUG CONTROL on Thursday
July 29, 1999 DEA's Strategies and Operations in the
1990s Statement of Norman J. Rabkin Director, Administration of
Justice Issues General Government Division GAO/T-GGD-99-149
Statement Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in the
1990s Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I am pleased
to be here today to discuss the results of our recently completed
comprehensive review of the Drug Enforcement Administration's
(DEA) strategies and operations in the 1990s. We undertook this
work at the request of this Subcommittee and the Senate Caucus on
International Narcotics Control. As agreed with the Subcommittee
and the Caucus, we focused our work primarily on determining (1)
what major enforcement strategies, programs, initiatives, and
approaches DEA has implemented in the 1990s to carry out its
mission; and (2) whether DEA's strategic goals and objectives,
programs and initiatives, and performance measures are consistent
with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National
Drug Control Strategy. Also, as requested, we reviewed how DEA
determined its fiscal year 1998 staffing needs and allocated the
additional staff. My statement is based on and will outline the
detailed results of our July 21, 1999 report1 (which I would now
like to submit for the record). Overall, we determined that,
consistent with its mission, DEA enhanced or changed important
aspects of its operations during the 1990s, including expanding
its focus to target local drug dealers in addition to major drug
trafficking organizations. In this regard: * DEA expanded its
domestic enforcement operations to work more with state and local
law enforcement agencies and help combat drug-related violence in
local communities. * DEA implemented an investigative approach
focusing on intercepting the communications of major drug
traffickers. * DEA enhanced its foreign operations by (1)
participating in two interagency programs to target major drug
trafficking organizations in Latin America and Asia and (2)
screening and training special foreign police units to combat drug
trafficking in certain key foreign countries. We also determined
that DEA's strategic goals and objectives, and enhanced programs
and initiatives, in the 1990s were consistent with the National
Drug Control Strategy. However, DEA has not developed measurable
performance targets for its programs and initiatives that are
consistent with those adopted for the National Strategy. I will
now briefly outline the results of our work. 1 Drug Control: DEA's
Strategies and Operations in the 1990s (GAO/GGD-99-108, July 21,
1999). Page 1
GAO/T-GGD-99-149 Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in
the 1990s As you know, DEA has significant responsibilities for
the drug supply Background reduction portion of ONDCP's
National Drug Control Strategy. DEA's overall mission is to
enforce the nation's drug laws and regulations and to bring drug
traffickers to justice. DEA is the lead agency responsible for
enforcing the federal drug control laws and for coordinating and
pursuing U.S. drug investigations in foreign countries. DEA's
primary responsibilities include (1) investigating major drug
traffickers operating at interstate and international levels and
criminals and drug gangs who perpetrate violence in local
communities; (2) managing a national drug intelligence system; (3)
seizing and forfeiting traffickers' assets; (4) coordinating and
cooperating with federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies on mutual drug enforcement efforts; and (5) carrying out,
under the policy guidance of the Secretary of State and U.S.
Ambassadors, programs associated with drug law enforcement
counterparts in foreign countries. Funding for all federal drug
control efforts has increased by about 49 percent, in constant
1999 dollars, in the 1990s to the fiscal year 1999 level of about
$18 billion. Funding for DEA almost doubled, in constant dollars,
from about $806 million in fiscal year 1990 to about $1.5 billion
in fiscal year 1999. The number of DEA staff increased from about
6,000 in fiscal year 1990 to about 8,400 in fiscal year 1998.
Nevertheless, during the 1990s, the demand for and supply of
illegal drugs have persisted at very high levels and have
continued to adversely affect American society. For example, on
the basis of the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
estimated that in 1997 there were 13.9 million current users2 of
illegal drugs in the United States aged 12 and older, representing
6.4 percent of the total population. This number has fluctuated
somewhat but has remained fairly constant overall since 1990, as
have the numbers of current users of cocaine and marijuana, with
1.5 million cocaine users and 11.1 million marijuana users in
1997. Also, a report prepared for ONDCP showed that drug users in
the United States spent an estimated $57 billion for illegal drugs
in 1995.3 ONDCP, in its 1999 National Drug Control Strategy, noted
that illegal drugs cost our 2 A current user is an individual who
consumed an illegal drug in the month prior to being interviewed.
3 What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, 1988-1995; prepared
for the Office of National Drug Control Policy by William Rhodes,
Stacia Langenbahn, Ryan Kling, and Paul Scheiman; September 29,
1997. Page 2
GAO/T-GGD-99-149 Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in
the 1990s society approximately $110 billion annually. The
societal costs include lost jobs and productivity, health
problems, and economic hardships to families. In addition, many
violent crimes are drug related, according to ONDCP. Drug
trafficking organizations have continued to supply drug users in
the United States despite short-term achievements by DEA and other
law enforcement agencies in apprehending drug traffickers and
disrupting the flow of drugs. In the 1990s, DEA pointed to many
drug enforcement accomplishments. But, despite these
accomplishments, national and international drug trafficking
organizations continued to smuggle large amounts of illegal drugs,
including cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, into
the United States. In addition, methamphetamine, a powerful
stimulant that has had a devastating impact in many cities across
the nation during the 1990s, is clandestinely produced in this
country; and marijuana is grown here. Local gangs and individuals
deal in these and other drugs in local communities and have caused
violence in doing so. Since it was established in 1973, DEA's top
priority has been to disrupt and DEA's Enforcement
dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. During the 1990s,
DEA Operations Reach From the broadened the focus of its
enforcement operations. DEA now focuses on International Level to
the what it calls the "seamless continuum" of drug
trafficking, with programs Local Level and
initiatives directed at major regional, national, and
international trafficking organizations; violent, street-level
drug gangs and other local community problems; and domestically
cultivated and manufactured illegal drugs. During the 1990s, DEA,
primarily through its Kingpin Strategy and then its Special
Operations Division, increased its emphasis on intercepting
communications between top-level drug traffickers and their
subordinates to identify and target the leaders and dismantle
their operations. This resulted in a 183-percent increase, from
fiscal years 1990 through 1998, in the number of electronic
surveillance court orders requested and conducted by DEA. DEA also
started working with other federal agencies on two programs- the
Linear Approach and Linkage Approach Programs-to target and
investigate major drug trafficking organizations in Latin America
and Asia, respectively. In 1996, to improve its effectiveness in
several key foreign countries, DEA began to screen and train
special foreign police units. The intent of this effort is to
improve the capabilities of foreign police and to Page 3
GAO/T-GGD-99-149 Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in
the 1990s build trustworthy and reliable foreign antidrug units
with which DEA works. At the same time, DEA attempted to improve
its effectiveness in addressing the "seamless continuum" of drug
trafficking by giving domestic drug trafficking a higher priority,
including focusing resources on regional and "local impact" drug
problems. In this regard, during the 1990s, DEA devoted more
resources to its State and Local Task Force Program. Also, in
1995, DEA established the Mobile Enforcement Team Program to
assist local police with violent drug gangs and other local drug
problems. DEA's strategic goals and objectives and its enhanced
programs and DEA Has Not Yet initiatives in the
1990s have been consistent with the National Drug Developed
Performance Control Strategy. Both the National
Strategy and DEA hope to reduce the Targets Consistent With the
illegal drug supply and drug-related crime and violence by
disrupting and National Strategy dismantling
domestic and international drug trafficking organizations. The
principal objectives in the National Drug Control Strategy
relating to DEA are: * combat drug-related violence, disrupt
criminal organizations, and arrest the leaders of illegal drug
syndicates; and * disrupt and dismantle major international drug
trafficking organizations and arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate
their leaders. For domestic drug trafficking organizations, the
National Strategy calls for increasing by 5 points the percentage
of drug trafficking organizations disrupted or dismantled by 2002
as measured against the percentage recorded in the base year using
a prioritized list of designated targets. It calls for at least a
10 percentage point increase above the base year by 2007. For
international drug trafficking organizations, the National
Strategy calls for achieving by 2002 a 50 percent success rate in
the number of organizations disrupted or dismantled as measured
against a designated target list established in the base year. The
Strategy also calls for increasing the success rate to 100 percent
by 2007 as measured against the base year list. According to ONDCP
and DEA, neither the domestic nor international designated target
lists referred to above have been developed. Unlike the National
Strategy, DEA's performance plans for fiscal years 1999 and 2000
do not contain performance targets for assessing its Page 4
GAO/T-GGD-99-149 Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in
the 1990s progress in disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking
organizations. DEA has no annual, mid-, or long-range measurable
performance targets for disrupting and dismantling drug
trafficking organizations. In commenting on a draft of our report,
DEA indicated that (1) it had developed preliminary performance
targets for inclusion in its fiscal year 2001 budget submission to
the Department of Justice (DOJ) and (2) it could not finalize its
targets and measures until the responsible federal agencies
complete a designated targeted list of international drug
trafficking organizations, as called for in the National Strategy.
Nevertheless, in the absence of finalized performance targets, it
is difficult to quantitatively assess DEA's overall effectiveness
in achieving its strategic goals. In order to carry out its
mission and operations during the 1990s, including DEA's Fiscal
Year 1998 the programs and initiatives I have mentioned,
DEA received funds to staff Staffing Needs its
operations through various sources, including its annual
appropriations Determination Process Was salaries and expenses
budget, as well as DOJ's Violent Crime Reduction Consistent with
Federal Program4 and other reimbursable programs, such as
the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program. Our
report discusses in detail the Processes and Procedures
process used in fiscal year 1998 to determine and allocate
additional DEA positions provided through its salaries and
expenses budget. DEA and DOJ officials considered this process to
be generally typical of the process DEA has used in other years.
The fiscal year 1998 DEA staffing needs determination process was
systematically linked to its budget formulation process. It was
typical of and consistent with the processes and procedures that
federal agencies are expected to follow, according to federal laws
and regulations and procedures promulgated by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). Moreover, the process considered
factors related to DEA's ability to carry out its mission,
including emerging drug abuse and trafficking trends, staffing
requests from the field, the DEA Administrator's vision statement,
and the Special Agent in Charge's vision statement from each field
office. DEA's fiscal year 1998 budget submission to DOJ estimated
the need for a total of 989 new positions, including 399 special
agent positions. As a result of reviews by DOJ, OMB, and ONDCP and
consideration of the resources provided in DEA's fiscal year 1997
appropriation,5 the President's fiscal year 1998 budget, which was
submitted to Congress in February 4 The Violent Crime Reduction
Program was established by the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322, as amended). 5 See
Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and
Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1997, P.L. 104-208 and H.R.
Conf. Rep. No. 104-863 (1996). Page 5
GAO/T-GGD-99-149 Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in
the 1990s 1997, requested a total of 345 new positions for DEA,
including 168 special agent positions. In its fiscal year 1998 DEA
appropriation, Congress provided 531 additional positions, of
which 240 were special agent positions, with guidance as to how
the positions were to be allocated. Then, DEA senior management
systematically determined the allocation of the additional staff
to headquarters and field offices, taking into consideration
congressional guidance and such factors as field office requests.
Mr. Chairman, let me close by emphasizing that although DEA's
strategic Conclusions and goals and objectives, as well as its
enhanced programs and initiatives, are Recommendation
consistent with the National Drug Control Strategy, DEA has not
developed measurable performance targets for disrupting and
dismantling drug trafficking organizations. Without such
performance targets, it is difficult for DEA, the Department of
Justice, Congress, and the public to quantitatively assess (1) how
effective DEA has been in using resources provided by Congress to
achieve its strategic goals and (2) the extent to which DEA's
programs and initiatives in the 1990s have contributed to reducing
the illegal drug supply. Measurable performance targets would also
help in determining what DEA resources, including staff, are
needed and how resources should be allocated and used to produce
the expected results of DEA's strategies, goals, programs, and
initiatives. In this regard, our report recommended that the
Attorney General direct the DEA Administrator to work closely with
DOJ and ONDCP to develop measurable DEA performance targets for
disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations
consistent with the performance targets in the National Drug
Control Strategy. This concludes my prepared statement, Mr.
Chairman. I would be pleased to answer any questions. Contact and
Acknowledgment For further information regarding this testimony,
please contact Norman J. Rabkin at (202) 512-8777. Individuals
making key contributions to this testimony included Daniel C.
Harris, Ronald G. Viereck, Samuel A. Caldrone, Lemuel N. Jackson,
and Barbara A. Stolz. Page 6
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