The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, overseen by the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the major

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

operations and tackle related crimes, such as

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

, tax and weapon violations, and violent crime, and prosecute those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.

History

In 1982, responding to concerns about the increasing

crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in several social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Americ ...

, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

intensified the war on drugs. In January 1982, Reagan designated Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

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 Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

region, and the sharp rise in related crime. The operation involved the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

(DEA), Customs Service, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) and other agencies, and

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

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 According to an agency history by

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

, the task force was a success, while drug smuggling had moved to new ports as evidenced by larger seizures elsewhere. 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. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement appeared in congressional appropriation legislation as a part of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

budget with the Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 1983, introduced in December 1982.

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, that present the greatest threat to public safety as well as economic and national security."

Organization

The OCDETF consists of an Executive Office, which coordinates the drug enforcement efforts of multiple agencies from several

cabinet departments The United States federal executive departments are the principal units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. They are analogous to ministries common in parliamentary or semi-presidential systems but (the United ...

including: * Department of Justice ** Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives **

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and ille ...

** U.S. Coast Guard ** U.S. Secret Service * Department of the Treasury ** Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation *

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

** Office of the Inspector General *

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

Diplomatic Security Service The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the principal Specialist law enforcement agency, law enforcement and security agency of the United States Department of State (DOS). Its primary mission is to protect diplomatic assets, personnel, and info ...

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

** Postal Inspection Service OCDETF_Strike_Forces_Locations

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.

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.

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.

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. 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 United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...

). 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 A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

of over $3 billion in monetary and property assets. The

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division The United States Department of Justice Criminal Division is a federal agency of the United States Department of Justice that develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws in the United States. Criminal Divisi ...

'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.

Investigations and prosecutions

In budget materials submitted to Congress, the OCDETF has provided measurements of its Investigation and prosecution statistics.

External links

Official website

Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...
reports

* GGD-87-29BR
Criminal Penalties Resulting From the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
" Published: Dec 22, 1986 * GGD-87-64BR
Drug Investigations: Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program's Accomplishments
" Published: May 06, 1987 * OSI-89-19
Nontraditional Organized Crime: Law Enforcement Officials' Perspectives on Five Criminal Groups
" Published: Sep 29, 1989. * GGD-94-143
INS Drug Task Force Activities: Federal Agencies Supportive of INS Efforts
" Published: Jul 07, 1994 * GAO-01-78
Illegal Aliens: INS Participation in Antigang Task Forces in Los Angeles
" Published: Oct 26, 2000 * 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
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
Counternarcotics: Overview of U.S. Efforts in the Western Hemisphere
" Published: Oct 13, 2017 * 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

{{authority control Law enforcement in the United States Drug Enforcement Administration Drug_control_law_enforcement_agencies Federal law enforcement agencies of the United States United States Department of Justice agencies Drug control law in the United States United States intelligence agencies Government agencies established in 1982 Organized crime in the United States