How DEA Keeps Defendants in the Dark on Role Intelligence Agencies Play in Their Prosecution
Drug Enforcement Agency training guides reveal details about how law enforcement agencies go about concealing how evidence from intelligence agencies may have been used to prosecute a person. They show how DEA agents, law enforcement and prosecutors cooperate together to essentially sidestep constraints created by the United States Constitution and statutory requirements for open and fair criminal trials.
Journalist CJ Ciaramella obtained multiple versions of a DEA training guide in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted on August 5, 2013, for “all DEA memoranda, training materials and official policies regarding ‘parallel construction,’ the act of recreating an investigative trail to obscure the original methods used.”
Agents involved in making arrests pretend their investigations begin with traffic stops, not tips from the unit, the Special Operations Division, which is made up of “two dozen partner agencies,” including the CIA, NSA, FBI, the Homeland Security Department and Internal Revenue Service.
Based off the training guides [PDF], “parallel construction” has been taught by the Justice Department’s training center since at least 2007.
“The documents showcase the DEA’s strategies for keeping defendants in the dark about the role intelligence agencies play in ordinary criminal investigations,” explained ACLU National Security Project staff attorney Patrick Toomey. “These policies undercut the due process rights of criminal defendants, including their right to a fair trial, and prevent courts from considering the legality of controversial surveillance programs.”
Filed under: General Problems
Leave a Reply