NCJ Number
87405
Date Published
1982
Length
111 pages
Annotation
Testimony presents the Drug Enforcement Administration's budget request for fiscal 1983 and the DEA strategy of drug law enforcement, as well as Justice Department support for S. 2320, designed to enhance the use of forfeiture in connection with drug trafficking and racketeering.
Abstract
The 1983 authorization request for DEA totals $246,945,000 and 3,953 positions, representing a net increase of $16,096,000 from the pending 1982 amount of $230,849,000. The budget includes a decrease of $2.5 million in the salaries and benefit base equivalent to 100 work-years. The greater involvement of the FBI in the investigation of Federal drug offenses, the recent initiatives of the Department of Justice to give priority to the coordination of drug investigative efforts, and the DEA's internal reorganization should produce a more efficient use of drug enforcement resources. Control of drugs at the sources, usually overseas, is the pillar of DEA's drug enforcement strategy. Bill S. 2320 consists of three parts. The first involves an amended version of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO). The second contains amendments to the Comprehensive Drug Abuse, Prevention, and Control Act, and the third establishes a 2-year trial program for using a part of the proceeds of forfeitures of drug-related assets for the payment of rewards to persons who have provided assistance leading to such forfeitures. Overall, S. 2320 gives prosecutors the option of consolidating prosecution of the criminal case and forfeiture of a defendant's drug-related assets by providing a criminal forfeiture statute applicable in all major narcotics prosecutions. A copy of S. 2320 is provided.