The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The DEA is responsible for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and internationally.
Dennis Howard Marks was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases.
Adler Berriman "Barry" Seal was an American commercial airline pilot who became a major drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel. When Seal was convicted of smuggling charges, he became an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration and testified in several major drug trials. He was murdered on February 19, 1986, by contract killers hired by the cartel.
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) was a federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice with the enumerated power of investigating the consumption, trafficking, and distribution of narcotics and dangerous drugs. BNDD is the direct predecessor of the modern Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
A Man Apart is a 2003 American vigilante action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray and co-produced by and starring Vin Diesel as Sean Vetter, an undercover DEA agent who is on a vendetta to take down a mysterious drug lord named Diablo after his wife is murdered. The film also stars Larenz Tate with Timothy Olyphant, Geno Silva, and Steve Eastin. Released by New Line Cinema in the United States on April 4, 2003, it received generally negative reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office.
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, with the enumerated powers of pursuing crimes related to the possession, distribution, and trafficking of listed narcotics including cannabis, opium, cocaine, and their derivatives. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the FBN carried out operations and missions around the world. The bureau was in existence from its establishment in 1930 until its dissolution in 1968. FBN is considered a predecessor to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco, smoking, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. It began as a tribute to fallen DEA special agent Enrique Camerena in 1985. According to the United States DEA, Red Ribbon Week is the nation's largest and longest-running drug awareness and prevention program.
The Guadalajara Cartel, also known as The Federation, was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in order to ship cocaine and marijuana to the United States. Among the first of the Mexican drug trafficking groups to work with the Colombian cocaine mafias, the Guadalajara Cartel prospered from the cocaine trade. Throughout the 1980s, the cartel controlled much of the drug trafficking in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico–United States border. It had operations in various regions in Mexico which included the states of Jalisco, Baja California, Colima, Sonora, Chihuahua and Sinaloa among others. Multiple modern present day drug cartels such as the Tijuana, Juárez and Sinaloa cartels originally started out as branches or "plazas" of the Guadalajara Cartel before its eventual disintegration.
Agustín Vásquez Mendoza is a Mexican citizen who was sought for four years in the late 1990s by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the 445th FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive for his alleged participation in a drug conspiracy which led to the death of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent. DEA agents believe that Agustin Vasquez Mendoza was helped to go on the run by one family member with a sur-name Prado Vazquez, from Aguililla, Michoacán. When the detectives questioned the alleged family, they refused to release a statement regarding Agustin Vazquez Mendoza's whereabouts.
Michael Levine is a former senior United States law enforcement agent, who was called "America's top undercover cop for 25 years" by the television show 60 Minutes. A 25-year veteran of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), he is best known for his criticism of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the influence it has played on DEA operations. Levine has claimed the CIA was instrumental in the creation of the Bolivian drug cartel La Corporación, which he called the "General Motors of cocaine".
Celerino Castillo is a former agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The Sonora Cartel, also known as Caro Quintero Organization, was a Mexico based criminal cartel. Upon the cartel's disintegration, its leaders were incorporated into the Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel.
James O. Born is an American novelist who used a career in law enforcement to add realistic details and dialogue to his crime thrillers. His first novel, Walking Money, released in 2004, received rave reviews and was shortlisted for the Barry Award. His third novel, Escape Clause, won the gold medal in the inaugural Florida Book Award. He currently co-writes many of his novels with best-selling author James Patterson.
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985, Camarena was kidnapped by police officers hired by the Guadalajara cartel. After being brutally tortured for information, Camarena was eventually killed. The U.S. investigation into Camarena's murder led to ten trials in Los Angeles for Mexican nationals involved in the crime. The case continues to trouble U.S.–Mexican relations, most recently when Rafael Caro Quintero, one of the three convicted traffickers, was released from a Mexican prison in 2013. Caro Quintero was again captured by Mexican forces in July 2022, reigniting discussions surrounding Camarena’s murder and its impact on enforcing drug policies domestically and abroad.
Graceland is an American drama television series created by Jeff Eastin that premiered on the USA Network on June 6, 2013. On October 1, 2015, USA Network cancelled Graceland after three seasons.
Personal is the nineteenth book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child, published in 2014. The plot of the book revolves around Reacher's pursuit of a sniper who has attempted to assassinate the President of France. This book is written in the first person.
Operation Kruz Control was a twelve-month, multi-agency investigation of a drug trafficking organization in southern Arizona, between December 2012 and December 2013.
Louis Diaz is an American former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who was largely responsible for the arrest and conviction of New York drug kingpin Nicky Barnes. He was also instrumental in dismantling "The Council," Barnes's drug trafficking organization. As an undercover agent, he also brought down members of the Medellin Cartel. Diaz is also an author and actor.
On 9 November 1999, two agents from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were threatened at gunpoint and nearly killed in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, by gunmen of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in the area. The two agents traveled to Matamoros with an informant to gather intelligence on the operations of the Gulf Cartel. As they cruised through one of the properties owned by the criminal group, they noticed several vehicles following them. The agents were forced to a stop and were corralled by a convoy of eight vehicles, from which 15 gunmen emerged and surrounded the agents' car. Some of them wore uniforms of the local police. Among the gunmen was the former kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who recognized the informant and ordered the three of them to get out of their vehicle.
Carlos Landín Martínez, also known as El Puma, was a Mexican former police chief and convicted drug lord. He was a high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and worked as the second-in-command of the cartel in Reynosa from 2005 to 2007. Landín Martínez was a trusted enforcer of the kingpin Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa. Among his responsibilities were managing international drug trafficking shipments from Tamaulipas to Texas, collecting taxes from independent traffickers who operated in his turf, and managing money laundering operations. Landín Martínez was also a commander in the Tamaulipas State Police, where he headed the homicide taskforce. According to a witness who testified against him in court, Landín Martínez worked for the Gulf Cartel while still employed by the state police.
