The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders,their families,and visiting heads of state or government. Until 2003,the Secret Service was part of the Department of the Treasury,as the agency was founded in 1865 to combat the then-widespread counterfeiting of U.S. currency. President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation on April 14,1865,just a few hours before he was assassinated. In 1901,the Secret Service was also assigned to presidential protection duties.
The Drug Enforcement Administration 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,the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However,the DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and internationally.
John Warnock Hinckley Jr. is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington,D.C.,on March 30,1981,two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a .22 caliber revolver,Hinckley wounded Reagan;police officer Thomas Delahanty;Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy;and White House Press Secretary James Brady,who was left permanently disabled and eventually died due to the extent of his injuries. Hinckley was reportedly seeking fame to impress actress Jodie Foster,with whom he had a fixation. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and remained under institutional psychiatric care for over three decades. Public outcry over the verdict led state legislatures and Congress to narrow their respective insanity defenses.
William Steele Sessions was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sessions served as FBI director from 1987 to 1993,when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton. After leaving the public sector,Sessions represented Semion Mogilevich,international leader of the Russian mafia. He is the father of Texas Congressman Pete Sessions.
Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia is a Cuban American former Central Intelligence Agency Paramilitary Operations Officer in the Special Activities Division,known for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the execution of communist revolutionary Che Guevara as well as his close ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran–Contra affair.
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.
Robert Cleve Bonner is an American lawyer and arbitration neutral,a former prosecutor,former United States District Judge,former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and former Commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology,a retired partner at the law firm Gibson,Dunn &Crutcher and former Chair of the California Commission on Judicial Performance.
Thomas A. Constantine served as the 6th Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from March 1994 to July 1999.
On March 30,1981,President of the United States Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington,D.C.,as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton. Hinckley believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster,with whom he had developed an erotomanic obsession.
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.
John Joseph Connolly Jr. is an American former FBI agent who was convicted of racketeering,obstruction of justice,and murder charges stemming from his relationship with James "Whitey" Bulger,Steve Flemmi,and the Winter Hill Gang.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the United States,overseen by the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify,disrupt,and dismantle the major drug trafficking operations and tackle related crimes,such as money laundering,tax and weapon violations,and violent crime,and prosecute those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.
The Jackie Presser indictment scandal was a legal and political scandal which began on June 1,1984. The scandal erupted after attorneys with the United States Department of Justice initiated a prosecution of Teamsters President Jackie Presser on various charges,including fraud and labor racketeering,only to cease prosecution once it was revealed that Presser had been a criminal informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since the early 1970s. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials came under intense political pressure to resume prosecution,while Presser's attorneys claimed that Presser had permission from DOJ to engage in the alleged crimes in order to mislead organized crime figures. It was later revealed that FBI and DOJ officials may not have kept investigators in other federal agencies and Congress fully informed of Presser's role,and that FBI agents may have overstepped their authority in giving Presser permission to commit crimes. The scandal largely ended after Presser's death on July 9,1988.
Francis M. "Bud" Mullen,Jr. is a former executive assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
CIA activities in Nicaragua have been ongoing since the 1980s. The increasing influence gained by the Sandinista National Liberation Front,a left-wing and anti-imperialist political party in Nicaragua,led to a sharp decrease in Nicaragua–United States relations,particularly after the Nicaraguan Revolution. In 1981,President Ronald Reagan authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to support the Contras,a right-wing Nicaraguan political group to combat the influence held by the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan government. Various anti-government rebels in Nicaragua were organized into the Nicaraguan Democratic Force,the first Contra group,at the behest of the CIA. The CIA also supplied the Contras with training and equipment,including materials related to torture and assassination. There have also been allegations that the CIA engaged in drug trafficking in Nicaragua.
Jerry S. Parr was a United States Secret Service special agent who is best known for defending President Ronald Reagan during the attempt on the president's life on March 30,1981,in Washington,D.C. Parr pushed Reagan into the presidential limousine and made the critical decision to divert the presidential motorcade to George Washington University Hospital instead of returning to the White House. He was honored for his actions that day with U.S. Congress commendations,and is widely credited with helping to save the president's life.
Thomas M. Harrigan was the Deputy Administrator for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and a DEA Special Agent for nearly 25 years. He was nominated by President Barack Obama to the position of DEA Deputy Administrator on February 18,2011. He was confirmed as DEA Deputy Administrator by the United States Senate on March 29,2012.
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was an American intelligence officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug traffickers hired by Mexican politicians in Guadalajara,Mexico. He was interrogated under torture and murdered. Three leaders of the Guadalajara drug cartel were eventually convicted in Mexico for Camarena's murder. The U.S. investigation into Camarena's murder led to ten more trials in Los Angeles for other 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 again was captured by Mexican forces in July 2022.
Chuck Rosenberg is an American attorney who served as Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration from 2015 to 2017. He formerly served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) and for the Southern District of Texas;as a senior FBI official on the staff of two FBI Directors;as Counselor to the Attorney General;as the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General;and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in EDVA in Norfolk and Alexandria.
The cannabis policy of the Reagan administration involved affirmation of the War on Drugs,government funded anti-cannabis media campaigns,expanded funding for law enforcement,involvement of the U.S. military in interdiction and eradication,reduction in emphasis in drug treatment,and creation of new Federal powers to test employees and seize cannabis-related assets.
