DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY TUESDAY, MAY 24, 1983 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SELECT COMMITTEE ON NARCOTICS ABUSE AND CONTROL, Washington, D.C. The select committee mét, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Charles B. Rangel (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Representatives Charles B. Rangel; Walter E. Fauntroy; William J. Hughes; Sam B. Hall, Jr.; Solomon P. Ortiz; Benjamin A. Gilman; E. Clay Shaw, Jr.; Michael G. Oxley; Stan Parris; Gene Chappie; Duncan L. Hunter; and Tom Lewis. Staff Present: John T. Cusack, chief of staff; Richard B. Lowe, III, chief counsel; Elliott A. Brown, minority staff director; Sandra J. Boek, assistant minority counsel; George R. Gilbert, counsel; James J. Heavey, press officer; Rebecca L. Hedlund, staff assistant; Edward H. Jurith, counsel; Michael J. Kelley, counsel; Ricardo R. Laremont, professional staff member; Dr. Martin J. Kurke, professional staff member; and Joyce Clement, professional staff member. Mr. RANGEL. The Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control will open our hearings on Drug Law Enforcement Strategy. This is the first hearing of the select committee in the 98th Congress. It starts a series on the general topic of Drug Law Enforcement Strategy. The committee's broad oversight responsibility charges us to cover all aspects of the worldwide problem of illegal drugs, including drug abuse prevention and treatment and the performance of many Federal agencies that deal with the situation. Effective enforcement of the drug laws, of course, is a prerequisite for progress against the spreading threat of drug abuse in our population. Illicit supplies must be brought under control-and seen to be under control-to give education half a chance to complete its job. It is appropriate that we have as our first witness the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mr. Francis M. Mullen, Jr. Mr. Mullen comes here with a wealth of Federal enforcement experience as an FBI official before his present assignment as the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. As the lead agency in Federal drug enforcement, the DEA is our prime source of insight into how serious the current problem is, what the trends are toward worsening or improving the outlook, and the successes and failures of the many-sided enforcement efforts. In preliminary contacts, we have asked Mr. Mullen to provide us with answers today to several of our specific questions. More questions, of course, will occur during the hearing process. (1) I want to stress that our major objective is not to criticize what is being done, or has been done in the past, but to search out ways in which Congress can contribute to a strong antidrug effort in the months and years to come. The Drug Enforcement Administration has borne a heavy burden and has a long list of signal achievements in the Nation's campaign against drug trafficking. We want to make certain that the DEA remains as effective as it has been and, of course, to improve upon it wherever Congress can make a contribution toward that. As the Administration reorganizes its forces on the drug front and reshapes it mechanisms of leadership, we hope that, through the Select Committee, we would have meaningful exchanges so that we can be supportive in areas where we fully understand the goals of the Administration and DEA. DEA's role is crucial, not only to our cities and our borders, but certainly as it relates to our foreign policy. We begin our committee's inquiries with an open mind about how the battle is to be waged, but there are certain areas that we will be dealing with on our agenda that deals with the question of hardcore addicts and the problems that they cause, the social costs that are involved, the monetary costs, and the influence on our children. We do hope that we will be able to, through the Drug Enforcement Administration, at least start off in seeing how we can get a handle on these serious problems facing our constituents and the Nation. There are ways to measure the effectiveness of the enforcement. We can look at the importance of the arrests, the convictions, but still we know that there is a serious problem on our streets. We hope, Mr. Mullen, that you fully appreciate that in public hearings-what Mr. Gilman and I and other members have said to you in private hearings-that we are seeking to be supportive. It is very important that we have an understanding of some of the problems that you face. It would not do us good to try to create through these hearings a confrontation, but you have to appreciate that we do have a responsibility to our constituents that we take very seriously. So while it is easy for us to talk in terms of the broad-brush approaches that our Government has taken as relates to strategy, we do hope that, in the course of these hearings and the hearings that follow, you will be able to have us, with some degree of confidence, return to our constituents to say what our Government is doing and, of course, to be able to say what our Congress is supporting. I do hope that this hearing is just the first of a series of meetings that we will be having where we will be getting recommendations from you as to what the Congress can be doing better. There is no question that many of the members have legislation in the standing legislative committees that certainly they will be running by your office to see whether or not this would be a tool that could become effective. If any of my colleagues on the committee have any statements, the Chair would recognize them. Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Chappie. Mr. CHAPPIE. I have no comments, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. LEWIS. No comments, Mr. Chairman. Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Oxley. Mr. OXLEY. I will waive any comments at this time, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. RANGEL. That being the case, Mr. Mullen, we know that you have a broad, comprehensive statement, which the committee members have received and, without objection, will be entered into the record. You may proceed the way in which you will feel most comfortable. [Mr. Rangel's opening statement appears on p. 86.] TESTIMONY OF FRANCIS M. MULLEN, JR., ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ACCOMPANIED BY GENE HAISLIP, DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, DIVERSION CONTROL, DEA; AND FRANK MONASTERO, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR OPERATIONS, DEA Mr. MULLEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a pleasure to appear before this committee, before yourself and the other distinguished members. I might note, Mr. Chairman, that I have appeared before this committee on a number of occasions, but this is the first time. under your chairmanship, and DEA looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship during your tenure as chairman of the Select Committee on Narcotics. I am pleased to be here today to discuss the Drug Enforcement Administration's role in the implementation of the 1982 Federal Strategy for Prevention of Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking. As you noted, Mr. Chairman, I had a somewhat lengthy statement, and you have entered it into the record, so I will make some very, very brief comments at this time. Mr. RANGEL. Without objection. Mr. MULLEN. I am pleased to make available to the committee the latest report of the National Narcotics Intelligence Consumers Committee. This report was released last week, and it addresses in detail the worldwide drug trafficking situation. Rather than elaborate on the report's assessment of drug trafficking trends, I will speak directly to our Nation's drug law enforcement programs, and their application to the 1982 Federal strategy. Mr. Chairman, in your recent letter, you noted that a vigorous domestic enforcement program is the only tool firmly in our hands with which we can expand and strengthen our efforts against the illicit drug traffic. I agree with this observation, and I would add that the education of our citizens about the hazards of drug use is also, an equally important undertaking within our control. One of the key objectives of the 1982 strategy is to improve the management and broaden the involvement of Federal agencies in the fight against drug trafficking. Toward this end, the FBI has been given concurrent jurisdiction with DEA to enforce the Federal drug laws. This new alliance has added to the Nation's drug enforcement effort a complement of FBI special agents with expertise in financial investigations and organized crime. Together, DEA and the FBI are conducting more than 450 joint drug investigations aimed at the upper echelons of organized crime and the drug traffic. Another important objective of the 1982 strategy is to step up interdiction efforts against shipments of illegal drugs entering the United States. The Vice President's South Florida Task Force Initiative was implemented over a year ago in response to the violence and other drug-related crime in that region caused by the smuggling of cocaine and marihuana. The task force operates through the cooperative efforts of DEA, the U.S. Customs, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The combined efforts of these agencies have achieved notable success, not only in stemming the flow of illegal drugs into south Florida, but also in providing the opportunity to pursue significant follow-up activities, including financial and organized crime investigations. As a result of our cooperative efforts in south Florida, we have arrested nearly 1,300 violators and seized more than 3,000 pounds of cocaine, more than 780 tons of marihuana, and more than $16 million in traffickers' assets. In the area of domestic drug law enforcement, the 1982 strategy calls for the application of Federal resources to the range of key criminal activities associated with drug trafficking organizations. Recognizing the increased involvement of organized crime in drug trafficking, President Reagan recently announced an eight-point program to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. A major aspect of this new initiative is the creation of 12 regional Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces across the country. Operating under the direction of the Attorney General, these task forces draw upon the law enforcement expertise of eight Federal agencies charged with investigating the highest levels of the organized criminal enterprise trafficking in drugs. To date, DEA is involved in 74 of these major investigations. The task forces complement existing Federal enforcement efforts against drugs and organized crime through the application of additional resources. Last December, Congress appropriated $127.5 million for the program; $19.9 million of which was allocated to the DEA. We have already committed 270 senior Special Agents to the program. We are currently utilizing this funding, and expect to continue to allocate these additional resources on a timely basis. A second major initiative aimed at the strategy's emphasis on interdicting drugs at our borders has been developed within the past 2 months. On March 22, the President announced the formation of the national narcotics border interdiction system. This initiative will complement the work of the task forces, and based on our experience in south Florida, will expand the interdiction concept to all borders of the United States. This new system is designed to monitor suspected smuggling activity and coordinate seizures of contraband and arrests of illegal drug importers by various Federal agencies. Mr. Chairman, the implementation of these new initiatives enhances the Federal cooperative activities in which DEA has traditionally participated. Overseas, for example, DEA personnel work with the State Department and our diplomatic missions in support of host country efforts to eliminate cultivation, production and con version of drugs, and to stop shipments of drugs destined for the United States. Domestically, DEA's investigative activities are conducted in cooperation with the FBI, U.S. Čustoms, the Internal Revenue Service, the Coast Guard, and other Federal agencies, and are integral parts of the Government's campaign against drug trafficking. At the State and local levels, too, DEA has and will continue to play an important role. While the appropriate Federal response to the drug trafficking situation is to concentrate on the upper levels of the traffic, State and local efforts aimed at the middle levels are also important and require DEA participation and assistance to be most effective. The DEA State and local task forces are currently operational in 19 areas. These are task forces in which DEA and State and local enforcement agencies work together to disrupt the illicit drug traffic in specified geographic areas. In addition, we customarily interact on an ad hoc basis with State and local agencies that do not formally participate in the program. DEA also supports the State and local effort through our training program and with laboratory support as well as intelligence exchange, both in the field and through the El Paso Intelligence Center. Mr. Chairman, there are many other ongoing DEA programs that support the objectives of the Federal strategy. I will now outline a few of the more significant ones. The abuse of prescription drugs is a major problem and is identified in the 1982 strategy. DEA has been very successful in its efforts to minimize diversion of legitimate controlled substances, especially at the manufacture and distribution levels. In recent years, we have accelerated our efforts to attack the growing problem of diversion at the practitioner level, doctors, pharmacists, clinics, and so forth. The targeted registrant investigation program was developed in 1980 to direct available investigative resources toward the highest level of practitioner violators. During 1982, DEA initiated more than 300 cases involving willful diversion by practitioners, including the so-called stress clinics and storefront clinics, which act as prescription mills for controlled drugs. In addition to its criminal diversion activities, DEA continues to promote the self-policing efforts of the pharmaceutical industry. The Federal strategy recognizes the importance of adequate, timely, and reliable intelligence to the drug enforcement effort. The El Paso intelligence center, operated under the direction of DEA, continues to grow as a full-service intelligence center, providing 24-hour tactical intelligence to 8 Federal and 45 State law enforcement agencies. In the past year, EPIC supported intensified air and maritime operations in the Caribbean area, serving as the primary clearinghouse for operational intelligence data. Its contribution to increased information dissemination received from the military has been invaluable. DEA continues to focus ongoing efforts on financial investigations involving international money flow and drug traffickers' assets. These investigations involve close cooperation among DEA, Customs, IRS, and the FBI. Financial investigations target not only the violators who profit from the drug traffic, but also the profits |