Summary

America's frontline soldiers in the battle against illegal drugs are agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Beginning in 1973 with 1,470 agents and a budget of $74.9 million, the administration was created by President Nixon as a single, unified command to fight what he called "an all-out global war on the drug menace." Today, the DEA has 5,235 agents, a budget of more than $2.3 billion, and 87 foreign offices around the world. Drug Enforcement Administration details the numerous fronts in the unit's ever-expanding fight against drug traffickers and describes the tactics used to bring them to justice.

Key topics covered include:

• The DEA's history and predecessor agencies
• Marijuana smuggling and use
• Mexican drug cartels
• South American drug cartels
• Narco-terrorism
• The global heroin trade
• The methamphetamine epidemic
• Money laundering.

Specifications

Full-color and black-and-white photographs. Sidebars. Chronology. Endnotes. Bibliography. Further resources. Index.

About the Author(s)

Michael Newton has published more than 220 books since 1977. His history of the Florida Ku Klux Klan, The Invisible Empire, won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for "Best Book in Florida History," and his Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology was one of the American Library Association's Outstanding Reference Works in 2006. His nonfiction work includes numerous volumes for Facts On File.