El Paso Intelligence Center

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El Paso Intelligence Center
Seal of the El Paso Intelligence Center.png
Agency overview
Formed1974;50 years ago (1974)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction United States
Operational structure
Parent agency Drug Enforcement Administration

The El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) was established in 1974 in response to a study by the Justice Management Division of the U.S. Department of Justice entitled, "A Secure Border." [1]

Contents

History

Recommendation number 7 of this study suggested the establishment of a southwest border intelligence center to be led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and staffed by representatives of that agency, as well as the U.S. Customs Service. The initial focus of the Center was to assist in the identification of drug traffickers and alien traffickers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The current EPIC facility was dedicated on 22 February 1989 in memory of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena-Salazar who was slain in the line of duty while conducting an undercover operation in Mexico. [2] Expanded in 1998–1999, EPIC headquarters lies within Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss military reservation in El Paso, Texas and is run jointly by the DEA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the pre-DHS era, the three main federal agencies at EPIC were DEA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the U.S. Customs Service. [3]

EPIC is now staffed with over 300 personnel and liaison officers from 15 agencies.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. "El Paso Intelligence Center: A National Resource for Local Agencies | Office of Justice Programs". www.ojp.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  2. Toro, María Celia (1999). "The Internationalization of Police: The DEA in Mexico". The Journal of American History. 86 (2): 623–640. doi:10.2307/2567049. ISSN   0021-8723. JSTOR   2567049. PMID   21977561.
  3. Boon, Kristen; Huq, Aziz; Lovelace, Douglas (2010). Narco-terrorism. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-539810-6.

31°49′48.55″N106°22′27.38″W / 31.8301528°N 106.3742722°W / 31.8301528; -106.3742722