NDIC Accomplishments
The pages below highlight significant accomplishments of the
NDIC.
FY 2008
FY 2007
FY2006
2008 Highlights
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The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) has consistently
and effectively supported national policymakers and law enforcement
decisionmakers by providing high-quality strategic domestic drug
intelligence; facilitating information sharing and liaison between
intelligence and law enforcement agencies; providing timely operational
support to law enforcement authorities by conducting document and
media exploitation of evidence collected during federal, state,
and local law enforcement investigations; and providing training
in support of the above efforts. NDIC has been a major contributor
to our nation's counternarcotics effort and the U.S. Department
of Justice (DOJ) Strategic Plan. The following report is a summary
of NDIC mission accomplishments during fiscal year (FY) 2008.
39 Major Recurring Intelligence
Assessments and Update of Two Major Topical Assessments
U.S. Border Drug Trafficking Reports
Critical Information Provided to HIDTA Officials
ONDCP Support
Law Enforcement and Intelligence Officials Support
Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) Enhanced
Liaisons Extended
Enhanced Information Collection
Library Services
Training Services
Accolades
39 Major Recurring Intelligence Assessments
and Update of Two Major Topical Assessments
In FY2008 the NDIC intelligence analysis staff produced 39 major
recurring intelligence assessments and updated two major topical
assessments.
- In November 2007 NDIC published and disseminated
the National Drug
Threat Assessment 2008, a comprehensive account of the
threat to the United States posed by the trafficking and abuse
of illicit and pharmaceutical drugs.
- Since then NDIC has completed
29 planned drug market analyses
for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program
and 9 regional drug threat assessments for the DOJ Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. These reports
have provided a strategic overview of the illicit drug situation
in every part of the country by highlighting significant drug
trafficking trends and have frequently been used by law enforcement
executives in the development of operational strategies and
resource allocation.
- In addition to these recurring assessments,
NDIC updated two major, drug-specific assessments: the
National Methamphetamine
Threat Assessment 2008 and the Domestic Cannabis
Cultivation Assessment 2008. These strategic reports have
assisted national-level policymakers by providing both a comprehensive
review of the current status and predictive analysis regarding
the future of these complex drug threats.
U.S. Border Drug Trafficking Reports
In FY2008 NDIC also produced various intelligence products that
focused on threats posed by drug trafficking at our nation's borders
for, or in partnership with, other members of the counterdrug community.
- The NDIC assessment of cocaine flows in
and through U.S. arrival zones--particularly those along Mexican
and Canadian borders--served as the "Arrival Zone" section of
the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Interagency Assessment
of Cocaine Movement.
- The NDIC report, Reassessing Southwest
Border Bulk Cash Smuggling: Consolidation Points as Trafficker
Vulnerabilities, was produced in response to a tasking from
the U.S. Government in its 2007 National Money Laundering
Strategy. That report identified at least five areas where
bulk-cash drug proceeds were being consolidated in preparation
for shipment across the Southwest Border.
- At the request of the National Security
Council (NSC), NDIC produced a report entitled Mexican Drug
Trafficking Organizations: Predominant Arms Smugglers Along
the Southwest Border, an assessment of the links between
drug trafficking and arms smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Other reports produced by NDIC in FY2008
that focused on border threats include U.S.-Canada Border
Drug Smuggling by Noncommercial Aircraft and Northern
Border Drug Money Laundering Threat Assessment 2008.
Critical Information Provided to HIDTA
Officials
NDIC regularly provides critical information used by HIDTA officials
in the preparation of their programmatic performance reports.
National Illicit Drug Prices, December 2007 presents a compilation
of wholesale, midlevel, and retail prices of illicit drugs in 133
U.S. cities and Puerto Rico. This price information enables HIDTA
offices to estimate the value of drugs seized within their regions
using metrics that are collected in a uniform manner throughout
the United States.
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The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) continues
to be a frequent and highly-valued customer of NDIC strategic intelligence
products.
- At the joint request of ONDCP, the White
House Law Enforcement Task Force of the Indian Affairs Executive
Working Group, and the DOJ Office of Tribal Justice, NDIC prepared
the
Indian Country Drug Threat Assessment 2008. This report
provided a strategic assessment of the threat posed to Native
American communities by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs)
and included both a national-level perspective of drug-related
problems facing reservations throughout the country, as well
as regional perspectives of drug-related issues that law enforcement,
public health, and tribal officials confront in Native American
communities.
- In addition, at the request of ONDCP, NDIC
produced quarterly reports entitled Changes in Illicit Drug
Availability and Cocaine Availability in U.S. Drug Markets
and subject-specific reports entitled Decrease in Mexican
Methamphetamine Production and Predictive Estimate Report:
Conditions are Favorable for an Increase in Domestic Methamphetamine
Production.
- Finally, pursuant to a request from ONDCP,
NDIC analyzed and submitted information for the United Nations
Annual Reports Questionnaire for its 2007 World Drug Report.
Law Enforcement and Intelligence Officials
Support
In FY2008, NDIC prepared numerous other reports on drug and drug-related
issues of interest to law enforcement and intelligence officials.
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Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX)
Enhanced
In addition to its strategic intelligence mission, NDIC has maintained
and enhanced its Document and Media
Exploitation (DOMEX) program--the only entity of its kind available
to U.S. law enforcement agencies.
- During FY2008, the NDIC DOMEX program made
significant contributions to many high-level investigations
targeting drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, and
other criminal activities affecting U.S. national security.
The DOMEX Branch completed 67 missions, nearly half of which
supported OCDETF investigations. The majority of the missions
supported major Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigations
(49 missions).
- In addition the DOMEX Branch supported
five missions for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
two missions each for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) and U.S. Attorneys Offices (USAO), two classified missions,
and one mission each for OCDETF, DOJ, U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and local police departments
from Ohio and California.
- The satellite DOMEX unit at the Utah National
Guard Joint Language Training Center conducted 13 of the 67
total missions this FY.
- Synopses of NDIC contributions to a few
of these missions are presented below.
- In November 2007 NDIC supported a multinational
investigation of a major international money laundering
organization with assets and bank accounts in the United
States, Mexico, China, and Switzerland. For this investigation,
NDIC analysts identified previously unidentified assets
valued at over $5 million.
- In November and December 2007 NDIC
supported an investigation of a money launderer working
on behalf of South American and European DTOs. For this
investigation, NDIC analysts were able to confirm that the
subject laundered money for DTOs in Europe and in Colombia.
NDIC analysts also identified previously unknown cash deposits
of $1.2 million as well as evidence that the subject laundered
over $13 million in a 5-month period.
- In December 2007 NDIC supported an
investigation targeting a terrorist organization. NDIC ultimately
identified 70 individuals with direct connections to the
conspirators and provided 92 linked media files--including
photo identification-- documenting the links. NDIC analysts
also identified 4 assets and 41 overt criminal acts conducted
in furtherance of the drug conspiracy.
- In July and August 2008 NDIC supported
a DOJ Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity
Section, investigation. NDIC identified over 800 suspected
child pornography photographs and provided investigators
with important information on conspirators' financial assets
and leads regarding additional potential targets.
- In August and September 2008 NDIC supported
an investigation targeting a major South American DTO. For
this investigation, NDIC identified previously unknown assets
controlled by the DTO including over 300 properties and
100 bank accounts.
- In August 2008 NDIC provided support
to the United Nations, Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
and INTERPOL. NDIC provided Real-time Analytical Intelligence
Database (RAID) installation and training for participants
from the Narcotics Control Board in Ghana and the Office
Central de Répression du Trafic Illicite des Drogues et
du Blanchiment in Togo. NDIC efforts supported the INTERPOL,
UNODC, and the European Commission's Law Enforcement
and Intelligence Cooperation against Cocaine Trafficking
from Latin America to West Africa . NDIC also previously
participated in other collaborative efforts with UNODC and
INTERPOL in Africa, such as in Botswana in April 2008.
- In September 2008 NDIC participated
in the DOJ Criminal Division, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial
Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT), Litigation
Support Seminar in Kampala, Uganda. The seminar was part
of the OPDAT ongoing anticorruption program in Uganda. The
seminar employed the NDIC-developed RAID software platform
to assist Ugandan investigative and prosecutorial agencies
to organize and share case information pertaining to corruption
cases.
- In September 2008 the NDIC DOMEX Branch
completed development of a Spanish-language version of the
NDIC RAID software with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office at the
Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia. The
primary task of this effort was to translate the graphical
user interface, users' manuals, and training materials into
Spanish.
- The NDIC Digital Evidence Laboratory (DEL)
continued to provide critical and timely assistance to the intelligence
and law enforcement communities during FY2008 by forensically
examining electronic media in support of 50 cases conducted
by DOJ, DEA, FBI, ICE, DOD, IRS, and several state and local
agencies. DEL technicians examined 489 computer hard disk drives
and 106 mobile phones containing a total of approximately 34
terabytes (34 thousand billion bytes) of data. To put this into
perspective, it is estimated that as of May 2008, the Library
of Congress has collected more than 82.6 terabytes of data.
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In FY2008 NDIC enhanced its information collection and sharing
capabilities by expanding our analytical presence in other law enforcement
and intelligence agencies; partnering with other agencies to collect
human intelligence; participating in community-wide committees that
coordinate collection requirements; disseminating raw, unevaluated
intelligence collected by our field personnel; and by enhancing
technology-based information sharing tools.
- In FY2008 NDIC expanded its corps of interagency
liaisons by detailing intelligence analysts to the OCDETF Fusion
Center, OFAC, and the DIA. These personnel will both contribute
to host agency intelligence initiatives and perform liaison
duties including the coordination of collaborative projects
and the facilitation of data collection and exchange.
- The NDIC representative to the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) Crime and Narcotics Center and the
Anti-Drug Intelligence Community Team received the Distinguished
Analytic Achievement Award from the Director of National Intelligence.
This Senior Analyst was also selected to participate in the
2009 National Security Executive Leadership Seminar. Another
of the NDIC Senior Analysts participated in the DOJ Leadership
Excellence and Achievement Program.
- During FY2008 NDIC continued its partnership
with the DIA, gathering strategic drug trafficking intelligence
from human sources, including paid informants, defendants, and
prisoners. The NDIC debriefers--trained and certified by DIA--participated
in 19 debriefings of sources and shared the subsequent reports
with the law enforcement and intelligence communities. One example
of such NDIC support was an operation that involved the FBI,
DEA, and DOD (DIA and Joint Task Force-North [JTF-N]) along
the Southwest Border (SWB). In this operation, the debriefing
information collected and disseminated by NDIC was used to fill
intelligence gaps and to corroborate information obtained from
other sources in the course of the operation. The resultant
data was also analyzed and disseminated to other SWB agencies
involved in the operation. The NDIC strategic debriefer received
Letters of Appreciation from both JTF-N and DIA for his contribution
to this operation.
- The Collection Management Group has been
aggressively enhancing its open source presence through initiatives
that facilitate the sharing of information with the intelligence
community and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
As a prime example of this effort, the NDIC Collection Manager
represents NDIC on the 24-member Office of the Director of National
Intelligence Open Source Collection Requirements Management
(CRM) Subcommittee. Through this membership, NDIC serves as
a conduit, promoting information sharing between its well-established
network of federal, state, and local counterdrug law enforcement
agencies and the intelligence community. In July 2008 NDIC hosted
a CRM Subcommittee meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
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Enhanced Information Collection
In addition to enhancing its ability to facilitate information
exchange, NDIC has continued to expand the availability of the information
it collects and enhance the mechanisms used to collect and disseminate
it.
- The NDIC Field Program Specialist (FPS)
program continues to provide critical information to support
NDIC strategic intelligence initiatives, and in FY2008 the FPSs
produced over 1,000 reports in response to NDIC taskings. The
FPS program also represents a unique information collection
capability of significant value to both law enforcement and
intelligence community members. Specifically, FPS reports containing
information of potential interagency interest are sanitized
by NDIC analysts and distributed electronically as Intelligence
Information Reports (IIRs). The FPS IIRs are made available
via Law Enforcement Online, Regional Information Sharing System
Network, Anti-Drug Network, and DEA WebSter. Over the course
of FY2008, NDIC disseminated 78 FPS IIRs.
- In FY2008 NDIC unveiled its SENTRY Project,
an Internet-based system designed to collect and disseminate
synthetic drug-related data in order to identify new trends
at an early stage, evaluate their likely importance, and track
their development. In August 2008 the external web site portion
of SENTRY was deployed. From the SENTRY web site, authorized
users can submit information on a new or unusual synthetic drug-related
activity via an electronic submission form, link to partner
agencies and the NDIC listserv, and search and retrieve NDIC
products. Previously reported submissions will be viewable using
geographic information system capabilities beginning in early
calendar year 2009. NDIC will use the information obtained through
SENTRY, in combination with information from other sources,
to produce and disseminate Drug Alert Watch and Drug Alert Warning
reports. SENTRY is a product of the partnership between NDIC,
ONDCP, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and supports the
National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan.
- In FY2008 a total of 3,049 state and local
law enforcement agencies responded to the NDIC annual National
Drug Threat Survey (NDTS), an overall response rate of 87.9
percent. To make NDTS data more accessible to the public, NDIC
added interactive maps depicting select NDTS data to the NDIC
public web site in June 2008. The most significant drug threats
identified in 2006 and 2007 are currently posted on the site
and plans for future expansion include the addition of data
collected over a broader time period in order to promote public
awareness of the results of our counterdrug efforts.
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In FY2008 NDIC continued to provide library services to the intelligence
and law enforcement communities.
- NDIC produces the Counternarcotics Publications
Quarterly (CPQ), an annotated and indexed bibliography
of reports, intelligence memoranda, papers, and target studies
prepared by federal, state, and local agencies. More than 220
copies of the classified CPQ were distributed to federal
officials at the headquarters of the DIA, DEA, FBI, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection, CIA, National Security Agency, and ONDCP
each quarter. In addition NDIC distributed more than 3,800 copies
of the sensitive CPQ to FBI and DEA field offices as
well as USAO district offices, state police headquarters, local
police departments, and sheriffs' offices each quarter.
- In FY2008 NDIC automated production of
the Daily Summary for The Interdiction Committee (TIC).
TIC Daily Summary captures drug-related news articles
that are significant, unique, and of interest to top counterdrug
policymakers, as well as counterdrug analysts. Information for
this report is derived from the Open Source Center, as well
as other open source reporting. Reporting on significant international
seizures, arrests, extraditions, international and domestic
counterdrug policy, and counterdrug assets and resources are
given priority treatment in the summaries.
- In FY2008 NDIC continued to produce the
Daily Intelligencer in partnership with the Federal Bureau
of Prisons, and the Extremism Review, a collaboration
between NDIC and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The Daily Intelligencer
is a daily news service compilation covering significant
gang activity in the United States, drug seizures around the
world, extraditions to the United States, federal indictments,
and federal prison sentences greater than 5 years. The Extremism
Review is a daily news service compilation covering reports
of extremism and hate crimes around the world.
In FY2008 NDIC continued to provide training services to the
intelligence and law enforcement communities.
- In FY2008 NDIC trained 5,053 federal, state,
and local law enforcement personnel in 66 training sessions
on topics related to basic drug intelligence analysis. NDIC
trained 560 law enforcement professionals in 13 DEA-sponsored
sessions and 501 law enforcement professionals in 8 sessions
sponsored by the HIDTA offices. NDIC also conducted four iterations
of the Multiagency Course, an intensive 1-week, video teletraining,
entry-level drug intelligence analysis course. Taught by instructors
from NDIC and other federal agencies, these four iterations
were attended by 247 law enforcement and intelligence professionals.
- In addition to training for counterdrug
professionals, NDIC also hosted two significant training seminars
during FY2008 related to the money laundering mechanism known
as the Black Market Peso Exchange. In April 2008 NDIC hosted
56 private banking officials and in September 2008 NDIC hosted
over 40 money laundering investigators and analysts from the
intelligence and law enforcement communities for 2-day training
courses and networking sessions covering the Black Market Peso
Exchange problem.
In May 2008 12 NDIC employees were recognized by the Pittsburgh
Federal Executive Board as recipients of a 2008 Excellence in Government
Award. The Excellence in Government Award program honors
outstanding federal employees in Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northwestern
West Virginia.
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