United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-07-21 monographic deposited born digital 176 p. GA 1.13:GGD-99-108 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108 P0b002ee180380294 f:gg99108 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108 GGD-99-108 Performance measures Drug trafficking International relations Narcotics Strategic planning National policies Law enforcement Federal/state relations Interagency relations Organized crime DOJ Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program DEA Mobile Enforcement Team Program National Drug Control Policy DEA State and Local Task Force Program DEA Kingpin Strategy National Strategy Performance Measurement System DEA Vetted Unit Program DEA Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program ONDCP High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program Customs Service/DEA/FBI Operation Reciprocity Customs Service/DEA Operation Limelight DEA Operation Tiger Trap DOJ Violent Crime Reduction Program Other Written Product GGD

High demand for illegal drugs in the United States has persisted throughout the 1990s, as has the flow of illegal drugs into this country. The cost of illegal drug use in this country has been pegged at about $110 billion annually, including lost jobs and productivity, health problems, and economic hardships to families. Also, many violent crimes are drug related. Funding for federal drug control efforts has risen by nearly 50 percent during the 1990s, reaching about $18 billion in fiscal year 1999. Funding for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) nearly doubled, from $806 million in 1990 to about $1.5 billion in 1999. DEA staff grew from 6,000 in 1990 to 8,400 in 1998. During the 1990s, DEA strengthened many of its operations. The agency began to work more closely with state and local law enforcement and help combat drug-related violent crime in local communities. DEA intercepted the communications of drug trafficking groups at home and abroad in order to target their leaders and dismantle their operations. DEA began to participate in two interagency programs to investigate major drug trafficking groups in Latin America and Asia. DEA also changed its foreign operations by screening and training special foreign policy units to combat drug trafficking in key foreign countries. DEA has major responsibilities under the Office of National Drug Control Policy's national drug control strategy for reducing the drug supply. However, DEA has yet to develop measurable performance targets for its programs and initiatives that are consistent with those adopted for the national strategy. Consequently, it is difficult to assess how successful DEA's programs have been in reducing the supply of illegal drugs into the United States. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in the 1990s, by Norman J. Rabkin, Director of Administration of Justice Issues, before the Subcommittee on Crime, House Committee on the Judiciary. GAO/T-GGD-99-149, July 29 (13 pages). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108.pdf GAO/GGD-99-108 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-108 Other Written Product GAO/GGD-99-108; Drug Control: DEA's Strategies and Operations in the 1990s; Performance measures Drug trafficking International relations Narcotics Strategic planning National policies Law enforcement Federal/state relations Interagency relations Organized crime DOJ Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program DEA Mobile Enforcement Team Program National Drug Control Policy DEA State and Local Task Force Program DEA Kingpin Strategy National Strategy Performance Measurement System DEA Vetted Unit Program DEA Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program ONDCP High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program Customs Service/DEA/FBI Operation Reciprocity Customs Service/DEA Operation Limelight DEA Operation Tiger Trap DOJ Violent Crime Reduction Program Title 18 Section 2510 18 U.S.C. 2510 Title 21 Section 848 21 U.S.C. 848 Title 22 Section 2291(c) 22 U.S.C. 2291(c) Volume 112 Page 2681 112 Stat. 2681 Public Law 90-351 Public Law 91-513 Public Law 100-690 Public Law 103-62 Public Law 103-322 Public Law 104-208 Public Law 105-119 Public Law 105-277