The Drug Enforcement Administration will no longer be allowed to conduct spot searches of travelers at airports and other transportation hubs after a scathing Justice Department report found the practice was of “grave concern” .
A report released Thursday by the Justice Department's inspector general says DEA officials failed to properly document investigations, may have illegally targeted minorities, and in at least one case suggest targets for investigation. He reportedly paid airline employees tens of thousands of dollars over several years for the purpose. Michael Horowitz.
After seeing a draft of the memo, the deputy attorney general ordered the DEA to cease unannounced searches on Nov. 12.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has been banned from conducting unannounced searches of travelers' belongings at airports and other transport hubs after an independent investigation found the practice was of “grave concern”. (Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
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The report cites a video of a traveler's experience released in July by the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit civil rights law firm.
“I do not consent to a search,” the traveler, who identified himself as David C., told federal agents who demanded that his backpack be searched.
“I don't have to agree,” the representative says in a video recorded earlier this year. When David reiterated that he didn't agree, the other man said, “I don't care what it is.” [about] This is your agreement. ”
David continued filming while investigators took his backpack off the plane and waited for a drug-sniffing dog. Agents claimed the dog alerted them to the bag. David continued to refuse permission to search, but eventually relented. Investigators found nothing illegal in the backpack, but by the time the whole ordeal was over, David had missed his flight to New York.
The agent said in the video that David got caught because he bought his ticket last minute.
“We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't legal, and we would be doing it all over the country,” the agent can be heard saying towards the end of the recording. “It will be closed.”
In subsequent investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration over the course of several years paid at least one airline employee for information on passengers who had purchased tickets to certain cities within 48 hours of the start of their trip. It turned out that he had paid the department.
Employees of the airline received tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from the DEA over the years. OIG found.
The OIG report states that the Drug Enforcement Administration rarely leaves behind paper evidence unless the search results in a seizure or arrest, so it is unclear how many travelers have been subjected to such searches. Probably impossible to reveal.
”[The] “The OIG report confirms what we have been saying for years about predatory DEA practices at airports,” IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban said in a statement.
2016 USA Today The investigation found that Drug Enforcement Administration agents at 15 major airports had seized more than $209 million from at least 5,200 travelers over the past decade. Most of that money was shared with local police departments, according to the report.
Fox News Digital previously spoke to musician Brian Moore, who had $8,500 seized while waiting at the gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Moore was never charged with a crime and was reimbursed after a year-long legal battle and after paying $15,000 (nearly twice what the DEA received).
“It was horrible. It was the worst experience of my life,” Moore said. “They basically ruined my entire music career in that one day, in those few minutes.”
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IJ is currently suing the DEA and TSA over airport seizure and forfeiture practices and is advocating for legislation to eliminate “profiteering that facilitates unconstitutional investigations.”
“While we welcome the Department of Justice’s suspension of this program as a first step, policy directives are subject to change at any time under the current or future administration,” Alban continued.
The Justice Department memo says it will suspend “all consensual encounters on public transportation unless related to an existing investigation or approved by the DEA administrator based on exigent circumstances.” .
“The DEA continues to fail to collect agreed-upon encounter-by-encounter data, as required by its own policies, and continues to be unable to provide us with an assessment of the success of these interdiction operations. Questions have once again arisen as to whether interdiction efforts are being used effectively. Lack of law enforcement resources once again leaves the DEA unable to provide adequate answers to these questions.” Horowitz wrote.
The report asks the DEA whether the very act of purchasing a plane ticket at the last minute suggests criminal activity, and whether the “acts of staff approaching passengers about to board a soon-to-depart flight exert undue pressure.” It recommends that companies reconsider whether they can be considered to be Travelers are prohibited from responding to such requests. ”
Brian Moore said he initially thought the DEA agents who seized the cash were robbers impersonating federal agents. He said he intended to take $8,500 to Los Angeles to pay for his first music video. (Courtesy of Brian Moore)
The DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
The OIG noted that DEA officers are not required to wear body cameras and that David C.'s recording is a “vital record of the interaction.”
According to the report, David was one of five passengers flagged for search that day, but initially refused to let officers search his bag, causing delays and officers asking other passengers to search his bag. It was not possible to contact all of the travelers.
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None of the travelers had “relevant criminal histories” or other reasons to suggest they “may have been involved in illegal activities,” the report said.
