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The Jay Leno Show honors Members from the Hispanic American
Police Command Officers AssociationAnnual
Conference
Opening of the DEA Museum
(1999)
On May 11, 1999, the DEA
Museum and Visitors
Center officially opened
at DEA headquarters
in Arlington,
Vi rginia.
Occupying
2,200
square
feet, the
museum
features a
unique exhibit entitled “Illegal
Drugs in America: A Modern History”
that traces the history of
illegal drugs in the United States
from opium dens in the mid-1800s to the international
drug mafias of the late 20 th century. The exhibit
includes historical photos, artifacts, text, and interactive computer
displays that show the effects of drugs on American
society and the efforts by federal law enforcement to combat
the drug problem. The exhibit highlights major trends in illegal
drug use as well as milestones and accomplishments of DEA
and its predecessor agencies.
Many of the museum’s artifacts were
donated by
former and
active Special
Agents, and members
of the Association of
Former Federal Narcotics Agents
volunteered to give tours. In its
first year, the museum drew 5,000
visitors and by 2003, that number
was expected to reach 10,000. Visitors
include student groups, law enforcement
officials, international visitors, and tourists
to Washington, D.C.
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Regional Enforcement
Teams
Early in 1999, DEA created the Regional Enforcement Team
(RET) program to address the threat of drug trafficking
groups using established networks of compartmentalized
cells to facilitate their illegal activity. While in the past these
organizations had typically maintained their operations in
larger cities, pressure from law enforcement led to their movement
into smaller locations throughout the United States.
The RET Program consists of four teams of agents, analysts,
and support staff that are responsible for addressing
increased rates of drug abuse, trafficking, and violent crime
in these smaller locations.
There were 18 RET deployments from 1999 to early 2003. In
that time, 36 drug trafficking organizations were dismantled,
more than 500 people were arrested and more than 22,000
pounds of drugs were seized.
Mobile Enforcement Teams
Since its inception in 1995, the Mobile Enforcement Team
(MET) program continued to fight drug-related violent crime
in communities throughout the United States. The MET
Program consists of 21 Teams based in 20 DEA Field Divisions
across the country. Working with local law enforcement
organizations who lack manpower and resources,
DEA’s MET Teams combat violent drug organizations in
specific neighborhoods and restore safer environments for
the residents.
From 1999 to 2003, DEA deployed MET Teams to 380 locations
nationwide. Communities across the country felt a
significant impact in areas where MET Teams were deployed.
As of 2003, MET Teams arrested more than 15,000 people
and took more than 10,000 pounds of illegal drugs off the
streets.
In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, the MET Team targeted
two trafficking organizations. One group was responsible
bringing wholesale quantities of methamphetamine from
Mexico for delivery to distributors throughout the
Shenandoah Valley for distribution, while the other brought
in crack cocaine from New York City. Both organizations
were dismantled, and the work of the MET Team is likely to
impede future drug trafficking in the area.