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DEA
Asa Hutchinson
August 2001­
January 2003
When Donnie Marshall retired on June 30, 2001, William
Simpkins, a career DEA agent, was named Acting Administrator.
In June 2001, President George W. Bush nominated
Asa Hutchinson, a 3rd term Congressman and former U.S.
Attorney from Arkansas, as Administrator. He was confirmed
by the Senate on August 1 and sworn in as the DEA’s eighth
Administrator on August 8, 2001.
Before coming to DEA, Mr. Hutchinson represented the third
district of Arkansas in Congress. As a Congressman, he was a
stalwart supporter of the fight against drugs. He was a member
of the Speaker’s Task Force for a Drug-Free America;
supported tougher penalties for trafficking in illegal drugs,
particularly methamphetamine; voted to increase penalties
for possessing club drugs, such as Ecstasy and GHB; supported
Plan Colombia; and championed drug courts. He
gained national recognition as one of the House managers
during the Senate impeachment trail of President Bill Clinton.
From 1982 to 1985, Mr. Hutchinson served as U.S. Attorney
for the Western District of Arkansas. He was, at age 31, the
youngest federal prosecutor in the country at the time.
At his swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Hutchinson explained his
dedication to the fight against drugs. He said, “I have seen
the drug war from all sides—as a member of Congress, as a
federal prosecutor, and as a parent—and I know the importance
of fighting this battle on all fronts…[but] More than
experience, I will bring my heart to this great crusade. My
heart will reflect a passion for the law; a compassion for those
families struggling with this nightmare; and a devotion to
helping young people act upon the strength and not the weaknesses
of their character.”
In January 2003, Mr. Hutchinson left DEA to serve as
Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security at the
new Department of Homeland Security.
Foreign Offices Opened 1999-2003
Beijing, China— 1999
Hanoi, Vietnam—2000
Tashkent, Uzbekistan—2002
Kabul, Afghanistan—2003
51
Operation Green Clover
(2001)
Operation Green Clover was a one-year investigation of an
Ecstasy trafficking organization that was a primary source of
the drug in Colorado that concluded in August
2001. Named after the green clover logo
on their Ecstasy pills, DEA and its
law enforcement
partners arrested
55 individuals in Colorado
and California
and seized 85,000 Ecstasy
tablets as well
as significant amounts of
other drugs. Operation Green Clover was an
important investigation not only because it
dismantled a significant trafficking organization,
but also because it was one of the first to call pub­
lic attention to the dangers of Ecstasy use. The investigation
had been sparked by the death of Brittney Chambers,
who died on her 16th birthday in Colorado after taking one
Ecstasy pill that had been distributed by the organization.
Brittney’s mother participated in the Operation Green Clover
press conference and later opened a teen center to promote
drug awareness and alternatives to drug use for teens in Colorado.
Operation Triple X (2001)
In October 2001, DEA dismantled a major methamphetamine
and Ecstasy drug laboratory in Escondido, California. This
takedown, dubbed Operation Triple X for the logo on the
organization’s Ecstasy tablets, resulted in 20 arrests and seizures
of 48,000 Ecstasy tablets, 1 pound of methamphetamine,
48 kilos of 3,4-Propene (which produce 500,000 Ecstasy tablets)
700 pounds of Camphor oil (which produce one million
Ecstasy tablets), 45 gallons of GBL (used to produce GHB),
other precursor chemicals and laboratory equipment, and
$429,000 in U.S. currency. This case was important because
the vast majority of Ecstasy in the United States was produced
in labs in Europe; the lab seized in Operation Triple X
was one of the most significant Ecstasy labs ever dismantled
in this country.