Notification of Concerns Identified in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Transportation Interdiction Activities

Ensure that the DEA enforces its policy requirement for Special Agents and Task Force Officers to timely complete the DEA-177 Consensual Encounter Form for each consensual encounter, and ensure that required data is being entered.

Ensure that the DEA fully implements appropriate transportation interdiction training that meets the purpose and intent of the OIG's prior recommendations, incorporates DOJ guidance, and addresses the concerns identified in the DEA Office of Training's report that led the DEA to suspend its Jetway training in April 2023.a. Once implemented, ensure that the DEA enforces its policy requirement for Special Agents and Task Force Officers participating in drug interdiction units at mass transportation facilities to complete transportation interdiction training.b. Assess whether the DEA should provide additional training to DEA Special Agents and Task Force Officers who previously received Jetway training.

Assess whether the DEA's repeated payment of a percentage of cash forfeitures to transportation company employees, based on tips leading to seizures, over a period of years, is consistent with the Limited Use Confidential Source category and appropriate under Department of Justice policy.

Assess whether the DEA, in connection with its interdiction efforts at mass transportation facilities, should permit, outside the context of a predicated investigation, cash rewards to private company employees for regularly providing, over an extended period, potentially private consumer data without their employer's knowledge and without any legal process.

Consider whether to direct the Department of Justice law enforcement components to expand their body-worn camera policies to require the use of body-worn cameras during pre-planned consensual encounters with travelers at mass transportation facilities.

Prohibit participation in transportation interdiction activities at mass transportation facilities by DEA Special Agents and Task Force Officers who have not received appropriate training.

Update the policy on "Consensual Encounters Conducted at Mass Transportation Facilities" in the DEA Agents Manual to provide additional consensual encounter guidance regarding transportation interdiction activities.

Provide additional training or guidance on the DEA-177 Consensual Encounter Form to ensure that DEA Special Agents and Task Force Officers understand the importance of the form and how to complete it accurately. Update fields or instructions on the form, if needed.

Determine whether transportation interdiction activities and the use of confidential sources for this purpose are an effective use of law enforcement resources, and assess whether the benefits of these actions outweigh the potential legal risks.