News Release [printer friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2003

DEA Opens "Air, Land and Sea" Exhibit to the Public

A drag racer, a helicopter, and a jet ski highlight "DEA: Air, Land, and Sea," the new Museum exhibit exploring the depth and breadth of the efforts that DEA and others agencies take to battle drug cartels and other criminals. The exhibit opened today and runs through December, 2004.

From the DEA "Air Wing" working in the skies to track and engage traffickers and eradicate remote drug production fields - to the countless land operations in all fifty states and countries around the globe - to the close cooperation between the DEA, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and others to interdict smuggling operations on the high seas, DEA has spent the past three decades bringing drug traffickers and money launderers to justice.

Key artifacts which will be used to tell the story of " DEA: Air, Land and Sea" include:

• A 1969 OH-6 helicopter previously flown by the U.S. Army. It was turned over to DEA in 1990, and flown until 2002 as part of DEA's Aviation division in surveillance and investigations.
  
  
• A 30 foot-long alcohol-fueled drag race car owned by a trafficker from Austin, Texas who operated a marijuana and cocaine smuggling ring in South Texas. He used the profits from that illegal activity to run a drag racing syndicate that participated in races all over Texas and the Southwest. It was seized by DEA in March 2001and is worth over $200,000.
  
  
• A 1999 SeaDoo brand jet ski seized by DEA during a crack cocaine investigation in Baltimore, Maryland. DEA worked with Baltimore County and Baltimore City police in an undercover operation that put a major regional crack supplier behind bars.

Property owned by drug traffickers such as the SeaDoo and drag racer are forfeited through the asset forfeiture program. DEA and other federal and state agencies seize property as well as millions of dollars each year, removing those assets from the hands of groups who are breaking the law. This takes the profit away from those whose lust for money and property results in death and addiction for countless millions.

The DEA Museum is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM free of charge. It is located at 700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA (South Hayes Street Visitors Entrance, 1block north of the Pentagon City Metro stop.) Press inquiries should be directed to DEA Public Affairs, 202-307-7977. All Museum queries should be directed to the DEA Museum Business Office, 202-307-3463.