President Richard Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—part of the U.S. Department of Justice—through an Executive Order in July 1973, with the goal of establishing a single unified command to combat “an all-out global war on the drug menace.” That order merged the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) and other federal offices into DEA. Nearly 40 years later, DEA continues to be the only single-mission federal agency dedicated to drug law enforcement. Its mission is threefold:
1) Enforce the nation’s controlled substances laws and regulations;
2) Bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those involved in the illegal growing, manufacture or distribution of controlled substances that are part of or destined for illicit drug markets in the United States; and
3) Recommend and support other programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on domestic and international markets.
In addition to being the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act—while sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations abroad.
DEA’s original headquarters were located at 1405 I Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C. As the agency and its headquarters staff grew, DEA began to search for a new headquarters location. Although it considered locations in Arkansas, Mississippi and several abandoned military bases, then–Attorney General Edwin Meese decreed that the headquarters be located near the Attorney General’s office. In 1989, DEA headquarters therefore relocated to 600-700 Army-Navy Drive in Arlington, Va.’s Pentagon City area. In addition to its headquarters offices, the agency has 226 offices organized into 21 divisions throughout the United States, as well as 85 offices in 65 other countries. The agency also maintains its own DEA Academy on the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va. (which also houses the FBI Academy).
At its outset, DEA had 1,470 special agents and a budget of less than $75 million. Today, it has nearly 10,000 employees, including almost 5,000 special agents, 500 diversion specialists, 800 intelligence research specialists and 300 chemists. Its enacted budget for FY 2012 was $2.035 billion. President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request for the agency is $2.051 billion, a 0.8% increase from the preceding year.