Tackling Transnational Drug Trafficking Effectively: Assessing the Outcomes of the Drug Enforcement Administration's International Cooperation Initiatives (From International Police Cooperation: Emerging Issues, Theory and Practice, P 260-280, 2010, Frederic Lemieux, ed. - See NCJ-230937)

• NCJ Number: 230950
• Author(s): Frederic Lemieux
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In assessing the outcomes of major international investigations initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the U.S. Government, this chapter measures the effectiveness of the DEA's international joint investigations, which sheds light on criminal intelligence sharing as the fundamental feature of international police cooperation.

Abstract

The study concludes that when the DEA initiates multilateral investigations at the international level, the gains in terms of outcome and expertise enhancement increase sharply. During 2000-2008, the DEA led at least 18 multilateral-cooperation initiatives that lasted an average of 17 months and used several national law enforcement agencies from both developed and developing countries. These investigations produced approximately 4,924 arrests and 439,400 kilograms in drug seizures. This is an average of 273 arrests and 24,411 kilograms per operation. Four types of benefits were evident in the international cooperation. First, sharing and pooling knowledge acquired on several drug supply chains using different routes across continents produced a better understanding of criminal network structures and the nature of connections among key traffickers; Second, a diversification of investigative and intelligence collection techniques offered investigators more legal options when they pressed criminal charges. Third, a diversification of information sources and police informants offered better chances for penetrating or infiltrating criminal groups targeted by the investigation. Fourth, benefits from loose or different legal environments in other countries allowed investigators to collect intelligence that may be less valuable in court, but was still essential to the success of an investigation. On the other hand, information obtained in interviews identified a downside of increased diversity in international police cooperation, i.e., competition for arrests and seizures among northern hemisphere law enforcement agencies. North American law enforcement agencies are held accountable to private citizens as well as governments, and they are predisposed to provide measurable performance achievement based on crime rates and public satisfaction surveys. 2 tables and 1 note