NDIC Accomplishments
The pages below highlight significant accomplishments of the NDIC.
FY 2008 FY 2007
FY2006
2008 Highlights
Printable Copy (980 KB pdf)
The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) has consistently and
effectively supported national policymakers and law enforcement decisionmakers by
providing high-quality strategic domestic drug intelligence; facilitating information
sharing
and liaison between intelligence and law enforcement agencies; providing timely
operational
support to law enforcement authorities by conducting document and media exploitation of
evidence collected during federal, state, and local law enforcement investigations; and
providing training in support of the above efforts. NDIC has been a major contributor
to our
nation's counternarcotics effort and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Strategic
Plan. The
following report is a summary of NDIC mission accomplishments during fiscal year (FY)
2008.
39 Major Recurring Intelligence Assessments and Update of
Two Major Topical
Assessments
U.S. Border Drug Trafficking Reports
Critical Information Provided to HIDTA Officials
ONDCP Support
Law Enforcement and Intelligence Officials Support
Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) Enhanced
Liaisons Extended
Enhanced Information Collection
Library Services
Training Services
Accolades
39
Major Recurring Intelligence Assessments and Update of Two Major Topical
Assessments
In FY2008 the NDIC intelligence analysis staff produced 39 major
recurring intelligence assessments and updated two major topical assessments.
- In
November
2007 NDIC published and disseminated the National Drug Threat Assessment
2008, a
comprehensive account of the threat to the United States posed by the trafficking and
abuse
of illicit and pharmaceutical drugs.
- Since then NDIC has completed 29 planned drug
market
analyses for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program and 9 regional
drug threat assessments for the DOJ Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force
(OCDETF) program. These reports have provided a strategic overview of the
illicit drug situation in every part of the country by highlighting significant
drug trafficking trends and have frequently been used by law enforcement
executives in the development of operational strategies and resource allocation.
- In addition to these recurring assessments, NDIC
updated
two major, drug-specific assessments: the National Methamphetamine
Threat Assessment 2008 and the Domestic Cannabis Cultivation Assessment
2008. These strategic reports have
assisted national-level policymakers by providing both a comprehensive review of the
current
status and predictive analysis regarding the future of these complex drug threats.
U.S. Border Drug Trafficking Reports
In FY2008 NDIC also produced various intelligence products that
focused on threats posed by drug trafficking at our nation's borders for, or in
partnership
with, other members of the counterdrug community.
- The NDIC assessment of cocaine flows
in and through U.S. arrival zones--particularly those along Mexican and Canadian
borders--served as the "Arrival Zone" section of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
Interagency
Assessment of Cocaine Movement.
- The NDIC report, Reassessing Southwest Border Bulk
Cash Smuggling: Consolidation Points as Trafficker Vulnerabilities, was produced in
response to a tasking from the U.S. Government in its 2007
National Money Laundering
Strategy. That report identified at least five areas where
bulk-cash drug proceeds were being
consolidated in preparation for shipment across the Southwest Border.
- At the request of
the
National Security Council (NSC), NDIC produced a report entitled Mexican Drug Trafficking
Organizations: Predominant Arms Smugglers Along the Southwest Border, an assessment of
the links between drug trafficking and arms smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Other
reports produced by NDIC in FY2008 that focused on border threats include U.S.-Canada
Border Drug Smuggling by Noncommercial Aircraft and
Northern Border Drug Money
Laundering Threat Assessment 2008.
Critical Information Provided to HIDTA Officials
NDIC regularly provides critical information used by HIDTA officials in
the preparation of their programmatic performance reports.
National Illicit Drug Prices,
December 2007 presents a compilation of wholesale, midlevel,
and retail prices of illicit
drugs in 133 U.S. cities and Puerto Rico. This price information enables HIDTA offices
to
estimate the value of drugs seized within their regions using metrics that are
collected in a
uniform manner throughout the United States. To Top
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) continues to be a
frequent and highly-valued customer of NDIC strategic intelligence products.
- At the joint
request of ONDCP, the White House Law Enforcement Task Force of the Indian Affairs
Executive Working Group, and the DOJ Office of Tribal Justice, NDIC prepared the
Indian
Country Drug Threat Assessment 2008. This report provided a
strategic assessment of the
threat posed to Native American communities by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs)
and
included both a national-level perspective of drug-related problems facing reservations
throughout the country, as well as regional perspectives of drug-related issues that
law
enforcement, public health, and tribal officials confront in Native American
communities.
- In
addition, at the request of ONDCP, NDIC produced quarterly reports entitled Changes in
Illicit Drug Availability and Cocaine Availability in U.S.
Drug Markets and subject-specific
reports entitled Decrease in Mexican Methamphetamine Production and Predictive Estimate
Report: Conditions are Favorable for an Increase in Domestic Methamphetamine
Production.
- Finally, pursuant to a request from ONDCP, NDIC
analyzed and submitted
information for the United Nations Annual Reports Questionnaire for its 2007 World Drug
Report.
Law Enforcement and Intelligence Officials Support
In FY2008, NDIC prepared numerous other reports on drug and drug-related
issues of interest to law enforcement and intelligence officials.
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Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) Enhanced
In addition to its strategic intelligence mission, NDIC has maintained and
enhanced its Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) program--the only entity of its
kind available to U.S. law enforcement agencies.
- During FY2008, the NDIC DOMEX
program made significant contributions to many high-level investigations targeting drug
trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, and other criminal activities affecting U.S.
national
security. The DOMEX Branch completed 67 missions, nearly half of which supported
OCDETF investigations. The majority of the missions supported major Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) investigations (49 missions).
- In addition the DOMEX Branch
supported five missions for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), two missions
each for
the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Attorneys Offices (USAO),
two classified missions, and one mission each for OCDETF, DOJ, U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and local police departments from Ohio
and
California.
- The satellite DOMEX unit at the Utah National Guard Joint Language Training
Center conducted 13 of the 67 total missions this FY.
- Synopses of NDIC contributions to
a
few of these missions are presented below.
-
In November 2007 NDIC supported a multinational investigation of a
major international money laundering organization with assets and bank accounts in the
United States, Mexico, China, and Switzerland. For this investigation, NDIC analysts
identified previously unidentified assets valued at over $5 million.
-
In November and December 2007 NDIC supported an investigation of a
money launderer working on behalf of South American and European DTOs. For this
investigation, NDIC analysts were able to confirm that the subject laundered money for
DTOs in Europe and in Colombia. NDIC analysts also identified previously unknown cash
deposits of $1.2 million as well as evidence that the subject laundered over $13
million in a
5-month period.
-
In December 2007 NDIC supported an investigation targeting a terrorist
organization. NDIC ultimately identified 70 individuals with direct connections to the
conspirators and provided 92 linked media files--including photo identification--
documenting the links. NDIC analysts also identified 4 assets and 41 overt criminal
acts conducted in furtherance of the drug conspiracy.
- In July and August 2008 NDIC supported a DOJ Criminal Division,
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, investigation. NDIC identified over 800
suspected
child pornography photographs and provided investigators with important information on
conspirators' financial assets and leads regarding additional potential targets.
- In August and September 2008 NDIC supported an investigation
targeting a major South American DTO. For this investigation, NDIC identified
previously
unknown assets controlled by the DTO including over 300 properties and 100 bank
accounts.
- In August 2008 NDIC provided support to the United Nations, Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and INTERPOL. NDIC provided Real-time Analytical
Intelligence Database (RAID) installation and training for participants from the
Narcotics
Control Board in Ghana and the Office Central de Répression du Trafic Illicite des
Drogues
et du Blanchiment in Togo. NDIC efforts supported the INTERPOL, UNODC, and the
European Commission's Law Enforcement and Intelligence Cooperation against Cocaine
Trafficking from Latin America to West Africa . NDIC also previously
participated in
other collaborative efforts with UNODC and INTERPOL in Africa, such as in Botswana in
April 2008.
- In September 2008 NDIC participated in the DOJ Criminal Division,
Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT),
Litigation Support Seminar in Kampala, Uganda. The seminar was part of the OPDAT
ongoing anticorruption program in Uganda. The seminar employed the NDIC-developed
RAID software platform to assist Ugandan investigative and prosecutorial agencies to
organize and share case information pertaining to corruption cases.
- In September 2008 the NDIC DOMEX Branch completed development of a
Spanish-language version of the NDIC RAID software with the U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD)
Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in
Dahlgren, Virginia. The primary task of this effort was to translate the graphical user
interface, users'
manuals, and training materials into Spanish.
- The NDIC Digital Evidence Laboratory (DEL) continued to provide
critical and timely assistance to the intelligence and law enforcement communities
during
FY2008 by forensically examining electronic media in support of 50 cases conducted by
DOJ, DEA, FBI, ICE, DOD, IRS, and several state and local agencies. DEL technicians
examined 489 computer hard disk drives and 106 mobile phones containing a total of
approximately 34 terabytes (34 thousand billion bytes) of data. To put this into
perspective, it
is estimated that as of May 2008, the Library of Congress has collected more than 82.6
terabytes of data.
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In FY2008 NDIC enhanced its information collection and sharing capabilities by
expanding our analytical presence in other law enforcement and intelligence agencies;
partnering
with other agencies to collect human intelligence; participating in community-wide
committees that
coordinate collection requirements; disseminating raw, unevaluated intelligence
collected by our
field personnel; and by enhancing technology-based information sharing tools.
-
In FY2008 NDIC expanded its corps of interagency liaisons by detailing
intelligence analysts to the OCDETF Fusion Center, OFAC, and the DIA. These personnel
will both
contribute to host agency intelligence initiatives and perform liaison duties including
the
coordination of collaborative projects and the facilitation of data collection and
exchange.
-
The NDIC representative to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Crime
and Narcotics Center and the Anti-Drug Intelligence Community Team received the
Distinguished Analytic Achievement Award from the Director of National Intelligence.
This
Senior Analyst was also selected to participate in the 2009 National Security Executive
Leadership Seminar. Another of the NDIC Senior Analysts participated in the DOJ
Leadership Excellence and Achievement Program.
-
During FY2008 NDIC continued its partnership with the DIA, gathering
strategic drug trafficking intelligence from human sources, including paid informants,
defendants, and prisoners. The NDIC debriefers--trained and certified by
DIA--participated
in 19 debriefings of sources and shared the subsequent reports with the law enforcement
and
intelligence communities. One example of such NDIC support was an operation that
involved
the FBI, DEA, and DOD (DIA and Joint Task Force-North [JTF-N]) along the Southwest
Border (SWB). In this operation, the debriefing information collected and disseminated
by NDIC was used to fill intelligence gaps and to corroborate information obtained from
other
sources in the course of the operation. The resultant data was also analyzed and
disseminated
to other SWB agencies involved in the operation. The NDIC strategic debriefer received
Letters of Appreciation from both JTF-N and DIA for his contribution to this operation.
-
The Collection Management Group has been aggressively enhancing its
open source presence through initiatives that facilitate the sharing of information
with the
intelligence community and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. As a
prime
example of this effort, the NDIC Collection Manager represents NDIC on the 24-member
Office of the Director of National Intelligence Open Source Collection Requirements
Management (CRM) Subcommittee. Through this membership, NDIC serves as a conduit,
promoting information sharing between its well-established network of federal, state,
and
local counterdrug law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community. In July 2008
NDIC hosted a CRM Subcommittee meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
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Enhanced Information Collection
In addition to enhancing its ability to facilitate information exchange,
NDIC has continued to expand the availability of the information it collects and
enhance the
mechanisms used to collect and disseminate it.
- The NDIC Field Program Specialist (FPS)
program continues to provide critical information to support NDIC strategic
intelligence
initiatives, and in FY2008 the FPSs produced over 1,000 reports in response to NDIC
taskings. The FPS program also represents a unique information collection capability of
significant value to both law enforcement and intelligence community members.
Specifically,
FPS reports containing information of potential interagency interest are sanitized by
NDIC
analysts and distributed electronically as Intelligence Information Reports (IIRs). The
FPS
IIRs are made available via Law Enforcement Online, Regional Information Sharing System
Network, Anti-Drug Network, and DEA WebSter. Over the course of FY2008, NDIC
disseminated 78 FPS IIRs.
- In FY2008 NDIC unveiled its SENTRY Project, an Internet-based system
designed to collect and disseminate synthetic drug-related data in order to identify
new trends
at an early stage, evaluate their likely importance, and track their development. In
August
2008 the external web site portion of SENTRY was deployed. From the SENTRY web site,
authorized users can submit information on a new or unusual synthetic drug-related
activity
via an electronic submission form, link to partner agencies and the NDIC listserv, and
search
and retrieve NDIC products. Previously reported submissions will be viewable using
geographic information system capabilities beginning in early calendar year 2009. NDIC
will
use the information obtained through SENTRY, in combination with information from other
sources, to produce and disseminate Drug Alert Watch and Drug Alert Warning reports.
SENTRY is a product of the partnership between NDIC, ONDCP, the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and
supports the National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan.
- In FY2008 a total of 3,049 state and local law enforcement agencies
responded to the NDIC annual National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS), an overall response
rate of 87.9 percent. To make NDTS data more accessible to the public, NDIC added
interactive maps depicting select NDTS data to the NDIC public web site in June 2008.
The
most significant drug threats identified in 2006 and 2007 are currently posted on the
site and plans for future expansion include the addition of data collected over a broader time
period in
order to promote public awareness of the results of our counterdrug efforts.
To Top
In FY2008 NDIC continued to provide library services to the
intelligence and law enforcement communities.
- NDIC produces the Counternarcotics
Publications Quarterly (CPQ), an annotated and indexed
bibliography of reports, intelligence
memoranda, papers, and target studies prepared by federal, state, and local agencies.
More
than 220 copies of the classified CPQ were distributed to federal officials at
the headquarters
of the DIA, DEA, FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CIA, National Security
Agency,
and ONDCP each quarter. In addition NDIC distributed more than 3,800 copies of the
sensitive CPQ to FBI and DEA field offices as well as USAO district offices,
state police
headquarters, local police departments, and sheriffs' offices each quarter.
- In FY2008 NDIC automated production of the Unclassified
Daily
Summary for The Interdiction Committee (TIC). TIC Unclassified Daily Summary captures
drug-related news articles that are significant, unique, and of interest to top
counterdrug
policymakers, as well as counterdrug analysts. Information for this report is derived
from the
Open Source Center, as well as other open source reporting. Reporting on significant
international seizures, arrests, extraditions, international and domestic counterdrug
policy,
and counterdrug assets and resources are given priority treatment in the summaries.
- In FY2008 NDIC continued to produce the Daily Intelligencer in
partnership with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Extremism Review, a
collaboration
between NDIC and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The Daily Intelligencer is a daily
news
service compilation covering significant gang activity in the United States, drug
seizures
around the world, extraditions to the United States, federal indictments, and federal
prison
sentences greater than 5 years. The Extremism Review is a daily news service
compilation
covering reports of extremism and hate crimes around the world.
In FY2008 NDIC continued to provide training services to the
intelligence and law enforcement communities.
- In FY2008 NDIC trained 5,053 federal, state, and local law enforcement
personnel in 66 training sessions on topics related to basic drug intelligence
analysis. NDIC
trained 560 law enforcement professionals in 13 DEA-sponsored sessions and 501 law
enforcement professionals in 8 sessions sponsored by the HIDTA offices. NDIC also
conducted four iterations of the Multiagency Course, an intensive 1-week, video
teletraining,
entry-level drug intelligence analysis course. Taught by instructors from NDIC and
other
federal agencies, these four iterations were attended by 247 law enforcement and
intelligence
professionals.
-
In addition to training for counterdrug professionals, NDIC also hosted
two significant training seminars during FY2008 related to the money laundering
mechanism
known as the Black Market Peso Exchange. In April 2008 NDIC hosted 56 private banking
officials and in September 2008 NDIC hosted over 40 money laundering investigators and
analysts from the intelligence and law enforcement communities for 2-day training
courses
and networking sessions covering the Black Market Peso Exchange problem.
In May 2008 12 NDIC employees were recognized by the Pittsburgh
Federal Executive Board as recipients of a 2008 Excellence in Government Award. The
Excellence in Government Award program honors outstanding federal employees in
Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northwestern West Virginia.
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