Here are some potential benefits and problems in coordinating counter-narcotics operations: Benefits: - Bringing together agencies with different authorities, resources, and expertise can create a more comprehensive response. Law enforcement can work with intelligence. Military can provide surveillance support. - Information sharing across agencies helps develop a more thorough understanding of drug trafficking organizations and threats. Pieces of intelligence from one agency may complete the picture when combined with others. - Joint task forces pool personnel and break down barriers between agencies. This facilitates cooperation and allows agencies to leverage each other's capabilities. Problems: - Coordination takes significant effort and resources. It requires agencies to spend time deconflicting operations, setting joint

1. U.S. Counter-narcotics Agencies
Numerous agencies support the United States’ counter-narcotics
mission. Many federal, state, and local organizations collect
and/or produce counter-narcotics intelligence while some
agencies use the intelligence collected by these organizations to
carry out their specific role. Additionally, some agencies
contribute counter-narcotics intelligence information that they
collect as a by-product of their non-narcotics related mission.
Together, these organizations comprise the United States’
counter-narcotics team. In addition, some agencies’ counter-
narcotics missions are intelligence related, some are law
enforcement related, and some are both.
Primary agencies with major counter-narcotics missions are
Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Other agencies with significant involvement in counter-
narcotics operations include Federal Bureau of Investigations,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, and Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network. Other agencies critical in countering the threat from
illicit drugs within the United States include CIA (CNC), DIA,
NSA, NGA, NRO DOS and ONI. Finally, several major joint
efforts contribute to the overall counter-narcotics missions.
These include ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas
program, DOJ’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task
Forces program, and DOD’s Joint Inter-Agency Task Forces.
(Note that these are general delineations. The increasing
collaboration with the intelligence community has afforded
some leeway in these designations, particularly regarding
national security issues. Also, increased collaborate between
federal law enforcement agencies and state and local law
enforcement further blurs the jurisdiction lines.)

2. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
The DEA is the primary federal agency responsible for
enforcing federal drug laws. The mission of the DEA is “to
enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the
United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system
of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those
organizations and principal members of organizations, involved
in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled
substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the
United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement
programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled
substances on the domestic and international markets” (DEA).
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) and is the lead federal agency within the for
maritime law enforcement, to include drug interdiction. The
Coast Guard's mission is “to reduce the supply of drugs from
the source by denying smugglers the use of air and maritime
routes in the Transit Zone, a six million square mile area,
including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific”
(USCG).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
CBP is also part of DHS and is responsible for protecting the
land and sea borders of the United States. CBP patrols the
borders to intercept illegal people and goods (to include illicit
drugs) being smuggled into the country. CBP has an almost
poetic mission in how it is written; it has 6 points, with the
following relative to counter-narcotics efforts: “We safeguard
the American homeland at and beyond our borders” and “We
steadfastly enforce the laws of the United States while fostering
our Nation’s economic security through lawful international

3. trade and travel” (CBP).
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
ICE, the investigative agency within DHS, investigates threats
to national security as they relate to people and goods coming
into the country. ICE's mission is “to promote homeland
security and public safety through the criminal and civil
enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs,
trade, and immigration” (ICE).
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)
The FBI is responsible for investigating criminal activities, to
include violations of federal drug law. The FBI states their
mission as the following: “As an intelligence-driven and a
threat-focused national security organization with both
intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities, the mission
of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against
terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce
the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership
and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and
international agencies and partners” (FBI).
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
FinCEN collects financial information and provides potential
money laundering activities to law enforcement in support
counter-narcotics (and other criminal) investigations. The
mission of the FinCEN is “to safeguard the financial system
from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote
national security through the collection, analysis, and
dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of
financial authorities” (FinCEN).
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

4. (INL)
Department of State’s INL is the counter-narcotics entity within
State. It focuses primarily on international counter-narcotics
issues through working with foreign governments and enacting
policies and programs related to counter-drug related issues.
The mission of the INL is “to minimize the impact of
international crime and illegal drugs on the United States, its
citizens, and partner nations by providing effective foreign
assistance and fostering global cooperation.” (INL).
Several other U.S. intelligence organizations also participate in
the counter-narcotics mission of the United States, such as
Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency,
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security
Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. These
organizations use their assets to combat a broad range of
national security threats, to include the illicit drug trade. They
collect intelligence relating to illicit drug activity and
participate in analysis and support of counter-narcotics
operations. They often work in concert with each as well as
with other federal agencies to combat specific national security
threats. These agencies meet periodically to work on a short-
term intelligence products or operations. They are also co-
located at strategic locations to work on long-term projects or
mission.
Joint Organizations
There are numerous joint organizations, often function as
investigative task forces, that work on counter-narcotics
missions – from local to regional and national levels. These
organizations bring together not only information from various

5. agencies but personnel with varied skills, which together greatly
improve the effectiveness of operations. Many of the
disruptions and dismantling of large drug trafficking
organizations is the result of collaborative efforts from
numerous federal as well as state, local, and tribal law
enforcing agencies. I am highlighting only a few of these
organizations here, focusing on those that have a national-level
impact. Keep in mind that collaborative efforts exist from the
local level on up to the global level.
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA)
ONDCP funds the HIDTA program to provide additional federal
resources for state and local law enforcement agencies in areas
of the country designated as having serious drug trafficking
problems. The HIDTA program facilitates coordination with
federal, state, and local agencies to enhance counter-narcotics
investigations in these areas. Many investigations in these areas
are carried out through the joint environment of the HIDTA.
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)
The OCDETF program focuses resources on the major drug
traffickers that smuggle and distribute illicit drugs in the United
States. OCDETF develops the list of major traffickers, updating
it annually to keep it current. It then coordinates efforts of
various federal agencies to investigate and dismantle these
major organizations.
Joint Inter-Agency Task Forces
The JIATFs use Department of Defense (DOD) resources to
conduct detection and monitoring operations in the Eastern
Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic waters to support law
enforcement efforts to disrupt international drug trafficking.
DOD assets play a significant role in detection and monitoring

6. of illicit drug traffickers using air and maritime methods of
transportation. Specifically, the JIATFs provide tactical and
operational intelligence as well as physical resources to
interdict illicit drug shipments en route to the United States,
primarily via water and, to a lesser extent, air.
Collaboration among federal agencies as well as between
federal and state and local agencies relies heavily on
intelligence sharing. Beyond direct cooperation in an
investigation, several organizations exist to support intelligence
sharing. FinCEN provides financial information to law
enforcement agencies that request it. The OCDETF Fusion
Center has a comprehensive data center that supports OCDETF
investigations through information sharing. DEA’s El Paso
Intelligence Center (EPIC) is a tactical intelligence center
comprised of resources and database information from federal,
state, and local agencies. The HIDTAs provide information
sharing and deconfliction. RISS or Regional Information
Sharing Systems (RISS) was developed to support investigative
efforts by providing information and intelligence sharing
resources, investigative support and analytical services, and
deconfliction to state and local agencies (RISS).
For your readings this week, note that I have several documents
that discuss each agency individually. This is information
pulled from each agency’s webpage and is meant to give you a
brief description of each. Feel free to go the agency’s webpage
to learn more. (This is not required, but for furthering your own
knowledge). The GAO Overview document is included because
it gives a great synopsis of each agency’s counter-narcotics
activities. However, please note that the information is undated
for some agencies. For instance, DHS had not been created yet,
so CBP and ICE are different entities now under DHS. Also, the
National Drug Intelligence Center was closed down in 2012 and
its functions transferred to DEA. I wanted to include the
document because it is very comprehensive and detailed and

7. provides an excellent idea of counter-narcotics operations and
intelligence activities. So, as you read, keep this in mind.
References/Works Sited:
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
Affairs. http://www.state.gov/j/inl/narc/index.htm.
Drug Enforcement Administration.
http://www.justice.gov/dea/about/mission.shtml.
Federal Bureau of Investigations. http://www.fbi.gov/about-
us/quick-facts
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
http://www.fincen.gov/about_fincen/wwd/mission.html.
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/high-intensity-drug-
trafficking-areas-program.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
http://www.ice.gov/about/overview/.
Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South
http://www.southcom.mil/ourmissions/Pages/Countering%20Tra
nsnational%20Organized%20Crime.aspx.
Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-West.
http://www.pacom.mil/organization/staff-directorates/jiatf-
west/.
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/taskforces/ocdetf.html.

8. Regional Information Sharing Systems. http://www.riss.net/.
U.S. Coast Guard.
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg531/drug_interdiction.asp.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
http://www.dhs.gov/border-security-overview.
Dalton corporation is analyzing product line feasibility. They
allocate corporate overhead of $1,800 based on Labor dollars.
The president believes he can increase corporate performance
by eliminating unprofitable products.
Product A
Product B
Product C
Product D
Net Sales
1,100
800
1,250
1,500
Direct Labor
(500)
(600)
(400)
(600)
Direct Materials
(150)
(300)
(125)
(150)
a. Prepare a Contribution Margin Income statement based on all
four products and determine if any product lines should be
dropped.

9. b. Prepare a Contribution Margin Income statement to show that
what would happen if Dalton does drop a product line.
c. Does Dalton’s operational performance increase if they drop
a product line?
d. Should Dalton drop their unprofitable product lines?
e. What is this an example of?
This week’s forum examines the numerous agencies involved in
counter-narcotics efforts in the United States. From it, you will
understand the variety of agencies and missions and the
complexity of coordinating operations. Respond to the
following question:
What are some benefits and problems encountered in
coordinating counter-narcotics operations?
Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 250 words.