DEA Arrests, Seizures Climb in Fiscal Year

The Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday it achieved dramatic increases in both arrests and seizures in the last fiscal year.

The number of people arrested in major drug cases jumped 35.8%, to 12,819, while confiscations of illicit drugs climbed an average of 30%--with a 53% gain in cocaine alone, the Justice Department agency said. Agents seized 17,613 kilograms of cocaine in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

“While to a great degree a reflection of the nation’s drug problem, these figures primarily demonstrate the increased effectiveness of the federal drug law enforcement effort,” DEA Administrator John C. Lawn said in the annual report.

Lawn said the arrest and seizure increases were “virtually across the board” of drug categories, despite the fact that cocaine was the only drug for which abuse rates rose significantly.

Houses, Cars Confiscated

The agency also reported a huge gain in assets, such as houses, cars, boats and airplanes, seized by the government from drug violators. The agency estimated the worth of the seized properties at $379 million, up 54% from the year before.

“Arresting lawbreakers and removing illicit drugs are a vital part of our mission, but we feel that seizing the traffickers’ ill-gotten gains can often be more effective in that it strikes directly at the incentive for trafficking,” Lawn said.

The agency reported a 76% seizure gain in the dangerous-drug category, which includes stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens. More than 45 million dosage units were confiscated.