Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
Through the vehicle of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma pursues major drug trafficking organizations formed for the purpose of importing, manufacturing or distributing large amounts of controlled substances and for financing and laundering the proceeds of such illicit activities. The "Drug Task Force," as it is known colloquially, is comprised of prosecutors and law enforcement personnel from a variety of federal, state and local agencies.
The Drug Task Force places a priority upon countering those narcotics organizations which routinely rely upon violence to perpetuate their operations of intimidation, enforcement and retaliation. The investigations of such organizations are typically multi-year, multi-defendant complex endeavors which commonly demand sophisticated electronic and undercover techniques, and which require considerable prosecutorial involvement from their inception.
In addition to the Drug Task Force cases, the U.S. Attorney's Office routinely prosecutes narcotics cases which otherwise do not fall within the guidelines established for task force attention. These cases involve drug seizures occasioned by automobile stops or airport encounters, as well as the more aggravated drug-trafficking found at the local level, including the illegal use of prescriptions. The successes of the OCDETF program and other narcotics prosecutions are a direct product of the professionalism and enthusiastic cooperation of the investigators assigned to the cases from various agencies, and those assigned to support them.