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Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs

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Not to be confused with the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section (NDSS), which was also established in 1968.
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
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Agency overview
FormedApril 8, 1968
Preceding agencies
DissolvedJuly 1, 1973
Superseding agencyDrug Enforcement Administration
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionUnited States of America
Operational structure
Agency executive
Parent agencyDepartment of Justice
Facilities
Fixed wing aircraft24

The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) was a federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice with the enumerated power of investigating the consumption, trafficking, and distribution of narcotics and dangerous drugs. BNDD is the direct predecessor of the modern Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).[1]

History

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The Bureau of Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs directly preceded the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Drug abuse coloring book, 1974

Merging the old guard

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Prior to the creation of the BNDD, there were two law enforcement agencies dedicated to narcotics enforcement: the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) and the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control (BADC).[2] These bureaus were organizationally within the structure of the Department of the Treasury and the Food and Drug Administration.

On Feb. 7, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson wrote to Congress;

“This administration and this congress have the will and the determination to stop the illicit traffic in drugs. But we need more than the will and the determination. We need a modern and efficient instrument to transform our plans into action.”[1]

This official executive request of the legislature was called Reorganization Plan #1. The text of the plan laid out the mission that the new BNDD would;

  1. Consolidate the authority and preserve the experience and manpower of the Bureau of Narcotics and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control;
  2. Work with state and local governments in their crackdown on illegal trade in drugs and narcotics, and help to train local agents and investigators;
  3. Maintain worldwide operations, working closely with other nations, to suppress the trade in illicit narcotics and marijuana;
  4. Conduct an extensive campaign of research and a nation-wide public education program on drug abuse and its tragic effects.[3]

Reorganization Plan #1 was passed by both houses of congress on April 7, 1968, and became effective the following day.[1]

The BNDD was established on April 8, 1968.[4] The new BNDD, as detailed in the plan, took the enforcement powers of Treasury and the FDA and transferred them to the singular Department of Justice, under the authority of the United States Attorney General.[1]

John Ingersoll

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John Ingersoll was the first Director of the BNDD, being appointed on August 1, 1968, and its last. He departed the bureau in disgruntlement on June 29, 1973, and the bureau was merged into the new DEA two days later.[5]

Ingersoll's timeline of tenure as the head of BNDD is similar to his two main predecessors in federal narcotics enforcement;

  • Levi Nutt was the Deputy Commissioner of the Narcotics Division from 1919 to 1930 - the entire length of its existence, leaving the new Bureau of Narcotics in scandal before it was taken over by Harry Anslinger.
  • Harry Anslinger was the Commissioner of the FBN from 1930 to 1965 - the FBN was merged into the BNDD only three years after his departure, in 1968.

Ingersoll launches internal investigations

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By 1970, Ingersoll suspected that the old Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was notoriously corrupt, and that this corruption had carried over to the new BNDD.[6] In December 1970, Ingersoll requested the assistance of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Richard Helms in rooting it out.[7]

In January 1971, Helms approved a program of "covert recruitment and security clearance support to BNDD."[8][9]

The investigation, and many following investigations, prove that Ingersoll was not wrong in many of his suspicions. Evidence exists today that;

  • FBN supervisory agent at large George Hunter White had extrajudicially killed several of his suspects during investigations.[10][11] While White had retired in 1966, he still had many connections at BNDD.
  • White's primary undercover operative after 1948, Jacques Voignier, was an operative for the FBN while simultaneously running drugs for the Corsican Brotherhood and running cons for his own personal gain.[12] Voignier was arrested in 1969, the year after the establishment of the BNDD.
  • FBN Agent Dean Unkefer admits in a memoir released in 2015 to having been addicted to narcotics within only a few years of his recruitment into the organization, despite never having done them before joining the bureau.[13]

Activities

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Foreign Offices

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By 1970, BNDD had nine foreign offices;[3]

New York Task Force

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BNDD special agents with French narcotics agents in paris, 1973

The first federal narcotics task force was established in 1970 in New York City.[3]

The same agents asked Commissioner Le Mouël to join the photo.

French Connection

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The BNDD carried on the work of the FBN in investigating the French Connection.[3]

Personell

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In 1971, the BNDD was composed of 1,500 agents and had a budget of some $43 million (which was more than fourteen times the size of the budget of the former Federal Bureau of Narcotics).[14]

Dissolution

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On July 1, 1973, the BNDD was merged into the newly formed Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "The Early Years" (PDF). Drug Enforcement Administration. January 1, 2020.
  2. ^ Study, Institute of Medicine (US) Committee for the Substance Abuse Coverage; Gerstein, Dean R.; Harwood, Henrick J. (1992), "A Century of American Narcotic Policy", Treating Drug Problems: Volume 2: Commissioned Papers on Historical, Institutional, and Economic Contexts of Drug Treatment, National Academies Press (US), retrieved 2024-08-23
  3. ^ a b c d "The DEA Years" (PDF). Drug Enforcement Administration. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  4. ^ 33 FR 5611, 82 Stat. 1367 at 1368
  5. ^ "Drug Agency Chief Quits and Charges White House Interference". The New York Times. 1973-06-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  6. ^ "CIA's "Family Jewels" - Part 1" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency (National Security Archive). p. 62. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  7. ^ "OFFICE OF SECURITY SURVEY - OFFICE OF SECURITY SUPPORT TO BNDD | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov)". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  8. ^ "CIA's "Family Jewels" - Part 1" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency (National Security Archive). p. 29. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  9. ^ "DEA History Book 1970 - 1975". Drug Enforcement Administration. Archived from the original on 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-06-16. John E. Ingersoll served as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) from 1968 until 1973.
  10. ^ (VIDEO) McWilliams, John C.; Lutz, Charles H.; Fearns, Sean (15 October 2014). "Standing In The Shadows: The Legacy Of Harry J. Anslinger, First Commissioner Of Narcotics". Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Transcript of the above video" (PDF).
  12. ^ "A Terrible Mistake: H.P. Albarelli's Investigation into CIA Scientist's Murder, at the Crossroads of Mind Control and Assassination". HuffPost. 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  13. ^ Unkefer, Dean (June 2, 2015). 90 Church: Inside America's Notorious First Narcotics Squad. Picador. ISBN 978-1250067333.
  14. ^ "The Narcotics Business:John Ingersoll's Version". www.druglibrary.org. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
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