Bush Administration, George W.

The War on Terror and Drug Policy

The signature legal policy implemented by the Bush administration was the USA PATRIOT Act, or the Patriot Act. Specifically crafted to provide the U.S. government a battery of tools and tactics to fight terrorism both within the country and without, the act is also used to curtail drug dealing and drug smuggling. Three titles of the act are used in anti-drug smuggling efforts. One dealt with surveillance, one with money laundering, and one with border security.

The electronic surveillance measures in the Patriot Act enabled recording of telephone conversations, surveillance of emails, and wiretaps without requiring court orders to do so lawfully. The money laundering provisions updated two effective tools in the War on Drugs, the Laundering Control Act of 1986 and the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Each of these requires the reporting of suspicious financial activity to federal authorities. Reporting suspicious transactions to authorities prompts federal investigation regarding the nature and source of the funds. The act amended existing U.S. forfeiture laws to allow for the seizure of funds and assets from any person or group engaging in terrorism. Similar forfeiture laws existed to allow for the seizure of funds from drug traffickers, including any monies paid to legal counsels and defense attorneys.

The Patriot Act allowed for the deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to the southwest border, an area designated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as a high intensity drug trafficking area. The act further allocated $5 million to enable the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to train police in southeast Asia. Known as the Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia), this is one region in the world known for prolific production of opium and heroin.

The Patriot Act was engineered to combat terrorism, but as mentioned above, it is routinely employed in the fight against drug trafficking. This is because the bill specifies that “terrorism” includes “narcoterrorism.” Narcoterrorism is defined as a subset of terrorism in which a terrorist organization funds itself by way of proceeds gathered in drug trafficking activities (or is funded by associates engaging in the same). Such activities may include cultivation, manufacturing, transportation, or distribution of controlled substances. By defining terrorism in this way, the act allows its provisions to be used in the War on Drugs, as well as the War on Terrorism.

The Bush administration also reorganized the U.S. law enforcement arsenal with respect to drug enforcement. Most notably, it established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Officially, DHS began operation on November 25, 2002. The creation of this cabinet department altered existing agencies as well. The newly formed DHS absorbed the U.S. Coast Guard, an agency long known for its success in the interdiction of drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Until this point, the Coast Guard had been a part of the Department of Transportation. Also placed under the umbrella of DHS was the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP). Prior to the formation of USCBP,

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