Documents Show The DEA Has Problems Constraining Itself To Losing The War On Drugs

It's simply not enough to be part of one problem. The DEA feels the need to be part of several problems.

You'd think it would have its hands full blowing billions of dollars on a lost drug war and filling people's heads with hysterical stupidity about the magical powers of fentanyl.

But, as FOIA terrorist Jason Leopold documented for BuzzFeed News in mid-2020, the DEA felt it needed to travel out of its wheelhouse, asking the DOJ for permission to conduct covert surveillance" on... people protesting police violence following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Prompted by that revelation, the Cato Institute went searching for more documentation of the DEA's mission creep. And it found something. As Patrick Eddington reports, the DEA has sent its officers and agents all over the nation to do things definitely not related to its primary directive: ensuring Americans never run out of illicit drugs.

The DEA was given permission to enforce any federal crime" committed by police violence protesters, but that temporary pass was supposed to expire two weeks after the DOJ issued it. The DEA apparently felt the free pass to go off-task was permanent.

That authority was supposed to expire after two weeks, but after pursuing litigation using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), an investigation by the Cato Institute has thus far failed to confirm that the DEA's covert surveillance operations were, in fact, terminated by midJune 2020. Moreover, DOJdocumentsobtained by Cato in the litigation show that the DEA has engaged in such nondrug enforcement operations nearly 30 times since February 2005.

Of the 27 specific episodes listed in the documents, four involved providing security at Super Bowls and 10 other sporting events; five involved unspecified assistance" after natural disasters, including after Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in 2016; three others involved investigative assistance" after the murder of local police officers in Dallas, San Antonio, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. None of the 27 episodes appear to have had any connection to the DEA's stated mission of enforcing the nation's drug laws.

The document [PDF] obtained by Cato contains a very strange list of things the DEA has been permitted to do. Or maybe not explicitly permitted. Maybe just ignored. The DEA sought explicit permission to engage in surveillance of police protesters in 2020. But Cato notes the list handed to it by the DEA dates back to 2005. Maybe the agency has always sought permission for these off-task actions. Or maybe it has just showed up on the scene without being explicitly told they weren't allowed and/or needed.

Either way, here's the full list of events/incidents the DEA chose to taint with its interloping:

Security at Super Bowl XXXIX in Miami, Florida (2005)
Assistance after Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Assistance after Hurricane Rita (2005)
Security at various events in Phoenix (2006-2007)
Investigative assistance after Boston Marathon Bombing (2013)
Security at Pittsburgh Marathon (2013)
Security at Vermont Marathon (2013)
Security at Boston July 4th celebration (2013)
Assistance after flooding in South Carolina (2015)
Security at visit of Pope Francis in El Paso (2016)
Security at Super Bowl (2016)
Security at Copa America soccer tournament in California (2016)
Investigative assistance after Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando (2016)
Security at US Track & Field trials (2016)
Investigative assistance after shooting of six police officers in Baton Rouge (2016)
Investigative assistance after shooting of Dallas police officers (2016)
Security at presidential debate in St. Louis (2016)
Assistance after Hurricane Matthew in Haiti (2016)
Investigative assistance after shooting of San Antonio police officer (2016)
Security at the Boston Marathon (2017)
Assistance after tornadoes in Dallas (2017)
Security at Boston July 4th celebration (2017)
Security at Chicago Marathon (2017)
Assistance in aftermath of Las Vegas shooting (2017)
Security at Chicago Marathon (2018)
Security at Super Bowl (2019)
Security at funeral of NJ Detective Joseph Seals (threats to retaliate at event to be attended by high government officials) (2019)

Some of this list looks like officers pitching in to help following national disasters. Some of this looks like the DEA pitching in to investigate serious crimes. The rest of it... it's tough to tell what to make of this. The hit-and-miss list shows the DEA showing up at certain events repeatedly, but not consecutively. It shows up at Super Bowls, but only a handful of them. It seems to be very interested in marathons, but can't be bothered to show up every year they're run. For some reason, it provided security at a single presidential debate.

None of this looks like the DEA has policies in place that govern its extracurricular activities. None of this suggests the DOJ - which oversees the DEA - has anything in place that designates the DEA as an entity to be used when extra security or investigative resources are needed. Perhaps it's better than it looks. Maybe this is the feds smartly flexing underutilized DEA agents to areas where help is needed. Or maybe it's just the DEA deciding it wants to do things and being obliged by people who either don't know or don't care how the DEA utilizes its resources.

Whatever the case, it clearly shows the DEA is willing to bring its drug warring expertise to places it isn't needed. And, given that the agency has a singular focus, there's a good chance many of these events it chose to attend never asked for its help. It just showed up and hung around until the event was over.

None of this looks particularly nefarious. But it does look wasteful and more than a little disorganized. You shouldn't be asking for the big bucks to fight a drug war but then act like you're a private security force (or worse, the National Guard) just because you can. Sure, I think the Drug War is a waste of money. But I would expect those who believe it isn't - that being the DEA and its employees - to at least maintain the pretense as long as they're going to be blowing my money.