FBI Reduces Involvement in Drug War August 2, 2002
News Summary
In order to meet the demands of the war on terrorism, the FBI is removing agents from narcotics task forces, the Associated Press reported July 30.FBI Director Robert Mueller said drug enforcement would no longer be a top priority for the agency. Instead, the three top priorities for the FBI following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 are preventing terror attacks, counterintelligence, and undermining strikes at the nation's computer networks.
"We ought to defer to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on cartel cases. We will still participate but with fewer resources. Where there were 10 FBI agents on a drug task force in the past, now there will be five," Mueller said. "Sept. 11 has required us to look at our resources and make hard choices. That is the bottom line for us: participate in drug enforcement, but not in the ways we have in the past."
According to Mueller, 400 agents will be reassigned from the narcotics efforts to counter-terrorism task forces.
Attorney General John Ashcroft emphasized that the drug war would be reorganized but not abandoned. He said crime fighters would focus their resources on a "most-wanted list" of 54 drug organizations in the United States and worldwide that was created by law-enforcement agencies.
Community reaction to the shift was varied. John Fernandes, an assistant director of the DEA in Los Angeles, doesn't expect the change to lead to more drugs on the streets.
"We are broadening the war on drugs and looking for ways to fight smarter, instead of harder," Fernandes said. "We are getting better at sharing intelligence and resources to compensate."
But Mike Helton a police officer in Seattle, Wash., said the FBI's reduced presence would hamper efforts.
"Fighting the drug war will be harder without the extra manpower of the FBI. There is no way around it," Helton said. "This is a signal that drugs aren't the most important thing anymore and that will be reflected out across America."
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