cannabisnews.com: DEA Shift 40 Special Agents To Southwestern Border





DEA Shift 40 Special Agents To Southwestern Border
Posted by CN Staff on July 06, 2002 at 07:26:38 PT
By Gary Fields, Staff Reporter of The WSJ 
Source: Wall Street Journal 
The Drug Enforcement Administration is boosting the number of special agents on the southwestern border by 40, part of an effort to replace Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel being shifted from drug investigations to antiterrorism duty. Drug Enforcement Administrator Asa Hutchinson said the agency also is working on a reorganization plan aimed at transferring more personnel out of their Washington headquarters to field offices. 
Amid criticism of the government's antiterrorism efforts leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, FBI Director Robert Mueller in May unveiled a plan for 400 FBI agents to be shifted to counterterrorism duties from working drug cases around the country. The announcement sparked discussion among some in Congress and local law-enforcement communities who wondered how those vacancies would be filled. "We're going through a very vigorous process of reviewing our allocation of manpower and how that lines up with where the FBI is pulling out agents from drug enforcement and also where the threats are," said Mr. Hutchinson. The first step is to move 40 agents from various offices, including headquarters, to the southwest border, which includes the DEA's offices in El Paso, Texas, Houston, Phoenix and San Diego, along with a number of satellite offices in the area. "The southwest border is the biggest threat," said Mr. Hutchinson. The reassignments and transfer of positions will increase the number of agents in the area by 6%, he said. In addition, he is doing an assessment to "meet the president's goal of a 10% reduction of headquarters staff." Those staff positions will likely be transferred to field offices to meet the FBI's proposed cuts in drug investigators. "It would be agents but also the technical people and the intelligence analysts," Mr. Hutchinson said. "We're looking at all of that and trying to put more people out in the field." It is unlikely that it will be a "one-to-one" trade-off in terms of DEA agents added to FBI agents lost, he said. "We're trying to honestly evaluate it and not just say they're pulling out 400 agents so we need 400 agents." According to DEA figures, there are 1,776 positions authorized for headquarters, including 191 special agents. The other employees who could be shifted include chemists, intelligence analysts, program analysts, clerical personnel and diversion investigators who regulate industries like pharmaceuticals. Complete Title: DEA Shifts 40 Special Agents To Southwestern Border Duty Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Author: Gary Fields, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal Published: Friday, July 5, 2002Copyright: 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: wsj.ltrs wsj.com Website: http://www.wsj.com/ Related Articles:DEA To Shift Headquarters Personnel To Field http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13142.shtmlWar on Drugs No Longer Feds' Highest Priorityhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13137.shtmlDEA Chief Discusses Drug Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13134.shtmlCannabisNews DEA Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/DEA.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on July 06, 2002 at 08:06:21 PT
The Fed...
is so rabidly against hemp that they will tell any lie, and denigrate it as much as possible to try to remove it from history. 
Cannabis, for health and happiness. 
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on July 06, 2002 at 07:40:04 PT
you would think WSJ could get it right
Why is there no mention for the biggest reason our founding fathers revolted against England. Sure Taxes are always brought up but what did you pay taxes in. Most people had no money so what did they use instead of money. Hemp of course but why is it the History books have all been rewritten. I have tried to call C-Span cause all weekend long they have had ol history buffs telling us how and why the Revolution started but all of them emit the one biggest fact, Hemp clothed us, feed us and our animals, made rope and sails. Hemp has been removed from the Smithsonian and the Textile Museums why when the USS. Constitution rebuilt every thing was pains takenly done to replicate the vessel except the Hempen Sails and ropes. 
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