Pubdate: Wed, 29 May 2002
Source: Star-Ledger (NJ)
Copyright: 2002 Newark Morning Ledger Co
Contact:  http://www.nj.com/starledger/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/424
Author: Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune

FBI TO SHIFT FOCUS FROM DRUGS TO TERROR

WASHINGTON -- FBI Director Robert Mueller will announce a reorganization of 
the FBI today that envisions a major retreat from the agency's past 
commitment to fighting drug crime as it focuses on preventing future 
terrorist attacks, sources in the Justice Department and Congress said.

The shift -- which includes moving 400 agents out of anti-drug work -- is 
aimed at bolstering the bureau's counterterrorism operations, including 
improving the agency's ability to analyze intelligence and the creation of 
"flying squads" of agents, who would be on call to pursue terrorism 
investigations around the world.

Mueller would use the agents freed by the redeployment to supplement new 
counterterrorism agents that Congress already has agreed to fund. Some 
1,770 field agents would be permanently assigned to counterterrorism duty, 
vs. 1,151 before the Sept. 11 attacks.

The reorganization has been in the works for months, but the announcement 
comes as the FBI is under criticism that it should have paid more attention 
to clues that hinted at the Sept. 11 attacks. Those attacks occurred a week 
after Mueller took over as director.

According to officials in Congress and the Justice Department who have been 
briefed on the plan, the reorganization includes reassigning one of every 
five FBI agents from drug enforcement and related activities.

The plan also calls for a more modest reassignment of agents assigned to 
violent crime cases and white-collar crimes. The bureau has about 11,500 
agents.

As a result, the burden of enforcing the nation's drug laws would fall more 
heavily on the Drug Enforcement Administration as well as state and local 
police agencies.

Since President Ronald Reagan recruited the FBI into the war on drugs 20 
years ago, the number of agents devoted to the cause has swelled, standing 
at about one-fifth of the bureau's agents on the eve of Sept. 11.

But in a reflection of how much the bureau's mission has changed, a list of 
10 priorities for the reorganized FBI -- presented to key members of 
Congress in advance of today's announcement -- did not mention drugs.

The realignment could come at a cost of higher crime rates and, despite the 
focus on terrorism, presents some long-term political risks for the Bush 
administration, observers say.
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