Pubdate: Wed, 31 Jul 2002
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2002 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Author: Christopher Newton, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)

FBI IS SHIFTING AGENTS FROM DRUGS

WASHINGTON - War on terrorism has become agency's top priority, director 
says FBI Director Robert Mueller said Tuesday that the war on terrorism 
demands that the FBI no longer make drug enforcement a top priority.

As a result, the FBI must pull agents from narcotics task forces.

The comments, which came at the 20th anniversary celebration for the 
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, followed statements by 
Attorney General John Ashcroft confirming that the drug war would be 
reorganized but not abandoned.

Ashcroft said law enforcement agencies have created a "most wanted list" of 
54 drug organizations that must be toppled.

The list will allow crime fighters to focus their resources, Ashcroft said.

But the FBI will be less involved in the effort because of the shift toward 
preventing terrorist attacks and gathering information on terrorist groups 
in the United States, Mueller said.

"We ought to defer to the Drug Enforcement Agency on cartel cases," Mueller 
said. "We will still participate but with fewer resources. Where there were 
10 (FBI agents) on a drug task force in the past, now there will be five."

Mueller listed stopping terrorist attacks, counterintelligence and 
undermining strikes at the nation's computer networks as the FBI's top 
three priorities.

He listed corporate crime investigations as another major draw on the FBI's 
resources.

Mueller has spoken before about the need to reallocate resources from 
narcotics enforcement, but Tuesday's comments were the strongest yet.

"(Sept. 11) has required us to look at our resources and make hard 
choices," Mueller said. "That is the bottom line for us -- participate (in 
drug enforcement) but not in the ways we have in the past."

About 400 agents will be taken from narcotics efforts and placed on 
counterterrorism task forces, Mueller said. There are 11,324 agents in the FBI.
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