Counternarcotics Office Unable to Perform Some Duties, Report Says – CQ Homeland Security
The office charged with coordinating counternarcotics efforts within the Department of Homeland Security is inherently unable to perform some of its statutory responsibilities, and should be stripped of certain duties, according to a new report from the department’s inspector general.
The Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement is nominally DHS’s lead entity in charge of coordinating counternarcotics policy, representing the department in working groups with partner agencies and reviewing the budgets and resources at DHS operational components that play a role in combating the drug trade, including Customs and Border Protection, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Coast Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
However, the report said, several factors have left the office unable to fulfill its duties, including its inability to establish liaisons at DHS operational agencies and its lack of success in exercising budget review responsibilities.
