Question about DEA/FBI/ATF work

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donatos

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Hello, friends. Hope you're all well. I had a question. I am fact checking a novel I wrote in the crime/sci fi genre and would like help figuring something out. Let's say there's a cartel that starts off in Mexico but soon violence and what looks like their presence (murders) shows up on the US side of the border, whose jurisdiction would this fall under? I know the DEA would be involved in a foreign country but if the same violence happened here would this become a FBI problem? Would they work together? And does Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Agency get into this too? Thank you in advance!
 

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Local police (whether that be city, county, highway patrol etc) will be involved in some capacity, too, since the crimes are ultimately going to affect local communities. ATF seems to only be the "legal drugs" of alcohol + tobacco, not things like weed or cocaine, but they do get involved for gun trafficking (guns in Mexico are bought legally in the US and then brought down there, so that is their jurisdiction). The FBI would be involved if a federal law is being violated, but they can still make local law enforcement deal with it. Example: you work a federal job but won't give back your work laptop. They make the local police go after you before they get a federal agent hunt you down.

I imagine there would be some amount of working together and sharing of info in-between agencies. Of course there can be some drama between individuals involved or internal politics that can limit or hamper that.
 

MaeZe

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I suggest looking the agencies up. I have a DEA license (to prescribe narcotics) but I have no idea what their enforcement branch consists of without looking it up.

My brain tells me the whole drug cartel thing is under FBI enforcement but again, I'd need to look it up to know what the CIA role is.
 
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lonestarlibrarian

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Are you only interested in the murder angle? Or is there any trafficking/smuggling involved?

I had an acquaintance once who was talking about how they had intercepted a shipment of cocaine on a ship offshore of Galveston, and was listing the laundry list of things they had confiscated. (Drugs, weapons, money, etc.) I asked, "Oh, do you work for Customs?" and he was like, "Actually, yeah. How did you guess? Most people would guess [agencies x, y, and z]."

I was lucky and had read something about it not too long prior to the conversation, which was the only reason I guessed what I did. :p

But if there's any amount of Stuff involved-- whether drugs or firearms or money-- you might consider involving Customs in some way.
 

Al X.

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In terms of Federal agencies, if it were only drug smuggling, DEA would have primacy. The murder aspect would primarily involve the FBI. ATF would get involved if weapons are being trafficked. Obviously there is some overlap, and as stated local law enforcement would be involved as well. And don't forget Homeland Security/Border Patrol.
 

ironmikezero

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Your stated premise suggests a fair bit of federal and state/local agencies jurisdictional overlap.

At the federal level, primary investigative responsibility is typically allocated to agencies per specific expertise in enumerated crimes; however, investigations almost always reveal other criminal activity that may seem to fall under another agency's purview. In those cases, the original agency may continue as the lead and cooperate with other concerned agencies (think ad hoc task force)--or not, dependent upon circumstances and prosecutorial guidance.

At some point there will be federal/state jurisdictional overlap (i.e.; an enumerated federal crime may also be a state crime). In these cases of concurrent jurisdiction, state and federal agencies may conduct separate/independent investigations, and at some point share results; or they may coordinate their investigations, up to and including working cohesively as a task force (state/local investigators may, as circumstances warrant, be specially deputized to bestow federal investigative authority).

Understand that in cases of concurrent jurisdiction, the criminal violation may be prosecuted (trials held) in both state and federal courts. Concurrent jurisdiction does not constitute double jeopardy. Upon convictions sentences may be set to run concurrently or consecutively (twenty years in a federal prison must be completed before the sentenced person is turned over to the state to begin a twenty-year sentence imposed by the state).
 

MaeZe

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In terms of Federal agencies, if it were only drug smuggling, DEA would have primacy. The murder aspect would primarily involve the FBI. ATF would get involved if weapons are being trafficked. Obviously there is some overlap, and as stated local law enforcement would be involved as well. And don't forget Homeland Security/Border Patrol.

Are you sure? I do some work for the local police and I've seen them in the parking area teaming up with FBI agents getting ready to raid an apartment for drugs and human trafficking. I've never seen any DEA agents that I'm aware of. That's why I suggested going to the agency web pages and looking over their scope of practice.
 

donatos

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Great answer, thanks! I did not know local/state police could be federally deputized.
 

MaeZe

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Great answer, thanks! I did not know local/state police could be federally deputized.

I don't think that's how it works. The city police and the FBI agents who I watched getting ready for the drug and trafficking raid were working as partners.
 

ironmikezero

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I don't think that's how it works. The city police and the FBI agents who I watched getting ready for the drug and trafficking raid were working as partners.

Federal deputations would not be the norm for routine raid assistance. It's used most often in long-term investigations that may include multi-state jurisdictions. Think in terms of a partner team comprised of a federal criminal investigator and a specially deputized local/municipal detective who may need to cross jurisdictional boundaries (state lines, etc.) to follow leads, conduct interviews, and make arrests. The special deputation (as a Special Deputy U.S. Marshal) empowers the state/local investigator with the powers of a sheriff in whatever jurisdiction the investigation leads.

The actual authority to federally deputize state/local LE personnel lies with the U.S. Marshals Service. Protocols/procedures are in place for the other federal agencies ask the USMS for the special deputations.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/0.112

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/564
 

Al X.

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Are you sure? I do some work for the local police and I've seen them in the parking area teaming up with FBI agents getting ready to raid an apartment for drugs and human trafficking. I've never seen any DEA agents that I'm aware of. That's why I suggested going to the agency web pages and looking over their scope of practice.

I wouldn't expect the DEA to be involved in a local drug/human trafficking enforcement. I would expect to see them lead in a border smuggling bust.
 

WeaselFire

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Great answer, thanks! I did not know local/state police could be federally deputized.

Can is not are. Only place I have ever seen it is cities on borders of states. Although a law enforcement officer (LEO) in one state can operate in another, if there is a task force running across state borders it can make things easier if local LEO gets federally deputized. And this would be a long term investigation, not what is described in the OP.

For the OP, FBI and DEA would provide assistance but rarely move in without some serious Federal crime. ATF is always involved if there are guns or explosives, though it's often just tracing. Both DEA and FBI can operate in Mexico, though you would have to write it so their investigation expanded to be cross border to include local things. Heck, you could get city, county, state, ICE, border patrol, DEA, FBI, ATF, Coast Guard, National Guard and even NYPD involved if you wrote it correctly.

Jeff
 
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