Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force

The task force was created in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack and reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the United States and diminish the violence and other criminal activity associated with the drug trade.[2]

OCDETF is the centerpiece of the Attorney General's drug supply reduction strategy. In order to enhance the OCDETF Program's ability to contribute to the President's mandate to reduce the drug supply, the Program focuses its resources on coordinated, nationwide investigations, targeting the entire infrastructure of major drug trafficking. It also assisted in the development of the Attorney General's Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) List, a unified agency target list of international "command and control" drug traffickers and money launderers. OCDETF's attack on the related components of these major trafficking organizations will not only disrupt the drug market, resulting in a reduction in the drug supply, but will also bolster law enforcement efforts in the fight against those terrorist groups supported by the drug trade.[3]

The OCDETF Fusion Center (OFC) will gather, store and analyze all-source drug and related financial investigative information and intelligence to support coordinated, multi-jurisdictional investigations focused on the disruption and dismantlement of the most significant drug trafficking and money laundering enterprises.

Together with state and local law enforcement, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task force utilizes the resources of twelve U.S. federal agencies to accomplish its objectives. This includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor – in cooperation with the Department of Justice Criminal Division, the Tax Division, and the 93 U.S. Attorney's Offices, as well as with state and local law enforcement.

Since the formation of the organization, its operations have led to more than 44,000 drug-related convictions and the seizure of over $3.0 billion in cash and property assets.[4]

Each of the ninety-three federal judicial districts is placed into one of nine OCDETF regions based on geographic proximity. Within each region, a "core city" was designated.[5]

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
• IRS Criminal Investigation
• Operation Panama Express