Drug Enforcement Administration

Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration's seal
DEA Special Agent badge
Flag of the DEA
Agency overview
Formed	July 1, 1973; 51 years ago (1973-07-01)
Preceding agencies	Federal Bureau of Narcotics Bureau of Drug Abuse Control Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement Office of National Narcotics Intelligence
Employees	9,848 (2021)
Annual budget	US$3.28 billion (FY2021)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency (Operations jurisdiction)	United States
Operations jurisdiction	United States
Legal jurisdiction	National
General nature	Federal law enforcement
Operational structure
Headquarters	Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.[2]
Special Agents	4,649
Agency executives	Anne Milgram[3], Administrator George S. Papadopoulos, Principal Deputy Administrator
Parent agency	United States Department of Justice
Website
dea.gov

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, 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.

It was established in 1973 as part of the U.S. government's war on drugs. The DEA has an intelligence unit that is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. While the unit is part of the DEA chain-of-command, it also reports to the Director of National Intelligence. The DEA has been criticized for scheduling drugs that have medicinal uses, and for focusing on operations that allow it to seize money rather than those involving drugs that cause more harm.^{[citation needed]}