Department of State, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Department/Agency: Department of State

Position:

Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Executive Schedule: Executive Level III - Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation

Major Responsibilities:

Strengthen and modernize criminal justice systems and law enforcement agencies worldwide
Reduce the entry of illegal drugs and minimize the impact of international crime on the United States and its citizens
Support other countries' justice and police systems in counter-terrorism efforts

Key Competencies and Preferred Qualifications:

Foreign Service/diplomatic experience
Knowledge of international markets and narcotics enforcement

Insight:

The Assistant Secretary in charge of the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) advises the President, the Secretary of State and other senior federal officials on the development of policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime. The bureau supports the State Department goals of reducing illegal drugs into the United States and minimizing the impact of international crime on the United States and its citizens. It works closely with other law enforcement agencies across the executive branch and with international law enforcement and criminal justice systems. Founded at the Bureau of International Narcotics Matters in 1978, it got a new name and expanded mission in 1993 under President Bill Clinton. At the time State Department wags coined the nickname "guns and thugs" for the bureau, since it now was concerned not only with narcotics but money laundering and sales of arms. But that was also the year of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. While the main focus remains on the international drug traffic, the bureau also works with counterparts overseas to strengthen their hand in the fight against terrorism. It also has been involved in efforts to thwart those who smuggle in aliens from China and other countries to become virtual slaves as payment for their tickets. It works to counter international insurance fraud, such as that involving international car-theft rings operating in the United States, which operate both from chop shops and through fraudulent shippers willing to export stolen vehicles to Latin America.

Assistant Secretary David T. Johnson, in a November 2008 newsletter, said, "We manage international issues that directly affect the lives and well-being of U.S. citizens every day. Illegal drugs from abroad threaten every community in America, and cost our country thousands of lives and billions of dollars annually." Testifying last June before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, Johnson spoke of the upsurge in drug violence in Mexican border towns, including Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, where early in his career Johnson was once posted as vice consul. "There has, indeed, been a wave of attacks and assassinations all along the border, " including more than 300 drug-related murders in the first six months of 2008. He explained what the U.S. and partner governments in Mexico, Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are doing under the Merida Initiative to stop this and other lawlessness in the hemisphere. "The United States government recognizes that working by ourselves, we cannot successfully confront the significant threat transnational criminal organizations pose to ourselves and the countries in our hemisphere," said the former diplomat.

Globalization brings with it an escalation in these problems, said Johnson. "With increased globalization, we have seen further proliferation of illegal migration, narcotics and weapons trafficking, violent gangs, laundered money and counterfeit goods - all phenomena whose effects spill across national boundaries," he testified. "Over the past decade, drug trafficking, transnational gangs, and other criminal organizations have grown in size and strength. They aggressively seek to undermine and intimidate government institutions in Mexico and Central America, compromise municipal and state law enforcement, and weaken governments' ability to provide public security and advance the rule of law." Johnson thanked lawmakers for providing supplemental funds for the Merida Initiative for 2008.

Johnson's predecessor, Anne W. Patterson, told the House International Relations Committee in 2006, "If the United States was supporting counternarcotics programs in the Americas, the situation here at home would be dramatically worse..... Unquestionably, the eradication and interdiction efforts of our partner nations have, with U.S. support, kept hundreds of tons of cocaine, heroin and marijuana out of our country." She acknowledged that there is still "a huge amount of work to do," but added, "nowhere in the world do we have greater solidarity and shared sense of purpose and responsibility than right here in our own Hemisphere."

Key Relationships – Within the Department or Agency:

Key Relationships – Within the Government:

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), The White House
Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Justice|
Deputy Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Justice
Deputy Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Commissioner, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Assistant Secretary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS
Deputy Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, DHS
Assistant Secretary, Office of International Affairs,
Director, U.S. Secret Service, DHS
Administrator, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), U.S. Department of Treasury
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN), Treasury
Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS), U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, U.S. Department of State
Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS), U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, State
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), U.S. Department of Justice
Administrator, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Key Relationships – Outside the Government:

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
International Police Organization (INTERPOL)
International Law Enforcement Academies
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission
International Narcotics Control Board
International Organization for Migration
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Nomination Referred to:

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Current Position Profile:

1. David T. Johnson (2007- present). Career Foreign Service officer and former ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Former Afghan coordinator for the State Department. Former White House deputy press secretary and spokesman for the National Security Council. Former deputy spokesman for State Department. Began government career as bank examiner for Comptroller of the Currency.

Recent Position Profiles:

2. Anne W. Patterson (2005-07). Career diplomat. Former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador and Colombia. Former deputy U.S. representative to the United Nations. Currently ambassador to Pakistan.

3. Robert "Bobby" Charles, J.D. (2003-05). Lawyer and congressional aide. Chief counsel to House Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice Subcommittee under Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill). Deputy associate director of White House Office of Domestic Policy in first Bush administration. Founder of The Charles Group, a lobbying firm.

4. R. Rand Beers, M.A. (1998 - 2002). Career civil servant at State Department. Served on the National Security Council three times, including director for counternarcotics.