DEA Special Agents and local police seize steroids.

Laws regulating the availability of medicines and other substances were passed in the United States starting at the beginning of the last century. They were put in place in response to growing abuse and addiction problems with those substances. Ever since, there have been individuals and organizations attempting to sidestep the rules and system for both financial gain as well as a need or desire to “get high.”

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA) assigned legal authority for the regulation of controlled substances to the DEA. The statute charges DEA with the prevention, detection, and investigation of the diversion of controlled substances from legitimate channels, while at the same time ensuring that adequate supplies are available to meet legitimate domestic medical, scientific, and industrial needs. The DEA Office of Diversion Control has launched many successful operations over the years to arrest traffickers, seize illegally obtained assets, shut down rogue pharmacies and ensure that the sale of counterfeit or black market products is halted. Some of the most significant of those operations are presented in this section of the exhibit.

One-Two Punch
DEA inflicts upon the illicit drug business what every legal business fears: escalating costs, diminishing profits and unreliable suppliers. DEA has dismantled major pharmaceutical trafficking and distribution organizations through criminal investigations. Used too, is DEA’s regulatory authority, subjecting registrants to significant civil fines, licensing restrictions or even suspended registrations.

By The Numbers
In 2006 DEA employed 621 Diversion Investigators who initiated 3,152 cases, seized 3,777,926 dosage units of controlled substances, seized $27,114,749 in assets and worked 672,393 case hours.