II. METHODOLOGY

• The dollar amounts provided for FY 1996 are based on a calculation using the total amount estimated for the Criminal Litigation decision unit multiplied by the percentage of criminal workyears devoted to narcotics. The estimates for FY 1997 include mandatory increases and the enacted program increase for the Violent Crime Reduction Program Southwest border initiative.



• The increase to the FY 1998 base is attributed to the incorporation of funds and positions for the narcotics (100%), Southwest border (100%), and the Organized Crime (50%) initiatives which are directly related to drug prosecutions. The increase also includes a proportional share of other initiatives which indirectly impact on the prosecution of drug violators.

III. PROGRAM SUMMARY

• The U.S. Attorneys primarily supports the Federal drug control priorities under Goal 5 by supporting programs that investigate and prosecute illegal drug manufacturers and traffickers.



• U.S. Attorneys are the principal litigators for the U.S. Government, operating from 94 district offices. They have four major decision units: Civil Litigation, Criminal Litigation, Legal Education, and Management and Administration. The first decision unit contains no drug-related resources.



• U.S. Attorneys investigate, prepare, and prosecute all Federal violations of controlled substances, money laundering, drug trafficking, tax evasion, and violent and organized crime.



• Each judicial district office maintains a Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee, which assesses local crime problems and solutions with other Federal and local officials.



• U.S. Attorneys frequently cross-designate state and local attorneys during investigations and prosecutions, as well as provide ongoing legal education.

IV. BUDGET SUMMARY

1997 Base Program

• The FY 1997 base program includes $250.4 million, 2,327 FTEs and 2,384 positions in drug- related resources for U.S. Attorneys which supports Goal 5 of the National Drug Control Strategy through prosecution activities. This represents an increase of $11.8 million over the 1996 level.



• The U.S. Attorneys also received $75.3 million in FY 1997 for 847 FTEs and 887 positions for its OCDETF activities from the ICDE appropriation.

1998 Request

• The FY 1998 level includes $269.3 million, 2,411 FTEs and 2,498 positions in drug-related resources for U.S. Attorneys which support Goal 5 of the National Drug strategy through prosecution activities. This represents an increase of $18.9 million over the 1997 level, including a program increase of $11.9 million. The FY 1998 request includes the following enhancements:



• Narcotics Initiative. This initiative requests 56 positions, 28 FTEs and $5.2 million in support of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs program, seeking to reduce the availability and abuse of illegal drugs through traditional and innovative enforcement efforts. Program will disrupt and dismantle major drug organizations along all points of the production, transportation, and distribution chain by:



• targeting and prosecuting significant drug traffickers and highly structured drug organizations;
  
  
• destroying major trafficking organizations by arresting, convicting, and incarcerating their leaders and top associates, and seizing their drugs and assets;



• utilizing the task force approach -- to benefit from the expertise and criminal intelligence of federal/state/local law enforcement officials;



• implementing the National Methamphetamine Strategy, in concert with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to disrupt production and trafficking;



• providing prosecutive support to DEA's Five Year Heroin Plan to address the continued resurgence of heroin trafficking and abuse;



• increasing foreign government support for the successful investigation and prosecution of drug cartel members; and



• making full use of financial investigative techniques to identify and convict drug traffickers.



• Southwest border Initiative. The U.S. Attorneys are requesting 37 positions, 19 FTEs and $2.9 million to address the problem of drugs originating or shipped from Mexico. Mexico is the primary transit country for cocaine entering the United States from South America, as well as a major source country for heroin, marijuana and, more recently, methamphetamine. Mexican trafficking organizations operating on both sides of the border have replaced U.S.-based outlaw motorcycle gangs as the predominant methamphetamine manufacturers and traffickers in the United States.



• Organized Crime Initiative. The initiative requests 41 positions, 21 FTEs and $3.8 million in support of the United States Attorneys' Organized Crime program. This request supports the Attorney General approved enhancement on behalf of the FBI for additional agents to combat the La Cosa Nostra, the Nigerian Mafia and the Asian Organized Crime. This initiative seeks to reduce Organized Crime. The strategies are designed to dismantle the operations of organizations tied to Organized Crime in the United States; assist other nations with the disruption of Organized Crime Groups that operate in the United States and abroad; and support task forces formed to eliminate Organized Criminal Enterprises.



• In addition, the U.S. Attorneys is requesting $77.5 million in reimbursable funding to support 847 FTEs for its OCDETF activities.

V. PROGRAM STATISTICS

	1996 Actual	1997 Estimate	1998 Projected
Drug-Related Cases:
- Cases Filed	10,487	11,500	13,000
- Cases Terminated	9,234	10,126	11,447
- Convictions and Guilty Pleas	16,468	18,059	20,414

VI. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• In the Northern District of Illinois, a former businessman and four leaders of the El Rukn street gang were convicted on September 26, 1996, of racketeering and narcotics conspiracy, murder, and other violent crimes in aid of racketeering. The businessman obtained cocaine and heroin supplies for the El Rukn gang. The gang used murder and intimidation to control drug trafficking on Chicago's South Side in the 1970s and 1980s. One defendant, a "Ten Most Wanted" fugitive, was also found guilty of conspiring with an imprisoned El Rukn gang leader to purchase a LAW rocket so that terrorist acts could be committed in the United States on behalf of the Libyan government.



• In the District of New Jersey, a final defendant pled guilty on February 29, 1996, in a multi-defendant case that began when more than 200 Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers executed arrest warrants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, seeking 21 persons indicted for their alleged roles in a violent Atlantic City-base gang. The defendant purchased heroin and cocaine in New York City, among other places, to sell primarily in low-income housing projects. In total, 24 defendants appeared in court, 23 of whom pled guilty to charges related to the gang's activities in Atlantic City.



• Organized Crime referrals continue to increase. Referrals increased from 491 in FY 1993 to 508 in FY 1994 (an increase of 3.5%). This was followed by 603 referrals in FY 1995, an additional 19% increase. Cases filed increased by 54% from FY 1994 to FY 1995, while defendants increased by 40.5%. The conviction rate continued to climb, reaching 89.8% in FY 1995.