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IV. Agency Budget Summaries

INTERAGENCY CRIME AND DRUG ENFORCEMENT


  1. RESOURCE SUMMARY

  2. METHODOLOGY

    • All of the funds in the Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement (ICDE) are scored as drug-related.

  3. PROGRAM SUMMARY

    • Under the leadership of the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department administers the Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement (ICDE) appropriation provided to Treasury bureaus. Jointly, these agencies establish priorities.

    • Formerly called the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program and originally established in 1982, the primary goal of the program is to target, investigate, and prosecute individuals who organize, direct, finance, or otherwise engage in high-level illegal drug trafficking enterprises, including large-scale money laundering activities.

    • This budget represents the portion of the ICDE funds previously appropriated to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for Treasury law enforcement bureaus participating in the program and are now funded through the Treasury-Postal appropriation.

    • Participating agencies coordinate their activities and cooperate within a national regional task for structure. Consisting of a representative from each participating agency, regional task forces foster a spirit of cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and bring some of the best specialized investigative and prosecutorial talent of each agency to bear on cases which have qualified for referral under special criteria.

    • From FY 1988 until FY 1997, DOJ annually prepared a consolidated request for OCDETF on behalf of all participating agencies. Eleven agencies participate and seven other DOJ law enforcement organizations dedicated to the program received resources from the bill on a reimbursable basis. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; the U.S. Customs Service; and the Internal Revenue Service are the Treasury bureaus participate in this program. Prior to FY 1998, DOJ reimbursed the Treasury bureaus for salaries and expenses expended on the cases that had been referred to and accepted by the task forces.

    • The ICDE Task Force Program consists of 9 regional task forces which consolidate the resources and expertise of 11 member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local investigators and prosecutors to target and destroy major narcotics trafficking and money laundering organizations.

    • Activities performed under this appropriation are core governmental functions which must continue on a day-to-day basis. Specific benefits include:

      • Consolidated Departmental Oversight: Appropriating directly to the Treasury Department enhances Treasury Enforcement's ability to exercise consolidated Departmental oversight in the management and allocation of resources concomitantly with streamlining administrative coordination with non-Treasury participating agencies.

      • These enhancements can be achieved while maintaining the integrity of existing guidelines which allow individual task forces to be tailored to meet the special needs of regional ICDE investigative and prosecutorial personnel.

      • Interagency cooperation to solve crimes: The overall goal is to identify, investigate, and prosecute members of high-level drug trafficking and related enterprises will be maintained through interagency coordination and thereby generate more and better cases against drug trafficking and related organizations.

      • When Treasury bureaus refer cases to the task forces, Treasury benefits from the highly specialized talents of each agency and, at the same time, receives reimbursement for resources expended. Likewise, other agencies benefit from Treasury's expertise in solving their cases. The types of cases referred to ICDE are extremely complex and are characterized by conspiracies of large, will organized criminal enterprises. These cases can often extend over a wide geographic area.

  4. BUDGET SUMMARY

    1998 Program

    • In FY 1998, a total of $73.8 million was appropriated to the ICDE program.

    Goal 2: Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.

    • The FY 1998 appropriation includes $36.3 million for money laundering investigations conducted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and $10.0 million for firearms-related violence investigations conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)

    Goal 4: Shield America's air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.

    • The FY 1998 appropriation includes $27.5 million for interdiction activities conducted by the U.S. Customs Service.

    1999 Request

    • In FY 1999, ICDE is requesting a total of $75.9 million, an increase of $2.1 million over the FY 1998 level.

    Goal 2: Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.

    • The total drug control request for Goal 2 activities for FY 1999 is $47.6 million -- $37.3 million for the IRS and $10.3 million for the ATF. In total, the net increase for Goal 2 activities is $1.3 million over FY 1998.

    Goal 4: Shield America's air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.

    • ICDE is requesting a total of $28.3 million for Goal 4 activities to support U.S. Customs Service programs in FY 1999. This funding level represents a net increase of $0.9 million over the FY 1998.

  5. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    • ICDE reports no new program accomplishments for the fiscal year just ended.