Tandy, Karen

Drug Enforcement Administration

In 2003, after more than 20 years of service to the DOJ, Tandy was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the administrator of the DEA. Upon meeting with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for questioning prior to the Senate vote on her nomination, Tandy identified the fight against international drug trafficking as a priority. If she was nominated, she hoped to strengthen international relationships around drug trafficking as a way to achieve this goal. Tandy also vowed to uphold the federal statute banning the use of marijuana. She opposed selective adherence to the statute by individual states that, at the time, instituted minimal to no penalties for the prescription of medical [Page 764]marijuana. Although her opinions did not match those of the entire committee, her nomination was approved and sent to the entire Senate for a vote.

During Tandy's term, the Drug Enforcement Administration began a Virtual Enforcement Initiative to target Internet drug trafficking.

After earning the full consent of the Senate, on August 2, 2003, Tandy was confirmed as DEA administrator. As administrator, Tandy was responsible for over 11,000 people, 317 offices across the United States and in 58 foreign countries, and an annual budget of $2.2 billion. Her duties as administrator included enforcing U.S. drug laws and laws related to other controlled substances in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, as well as confiscating goods purchased with drug profits and running a joint agency national drug intelligence program. Tandy was also responsible for working in partnership with foreign governments and international organizations to reduce drug availability and drug smuggling into the United States.

During Tandy's term as administrator, the DEA launched a number of operations, both domestically and in concert with law enforcement agencies from other countries, to curb the drug trade. For example, in 2005, Operations Wildfire, Three Hour Tour, and Mallorca were introduced. Operation Wildfire targeted the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine. During the operation, the DEA, along with local and state law enforcement agencies arrested 400 people, closed 56 laboratories that manufactured methamphetamine, and seized more than 200 pounds of the drug. In a coordinated effort with law enforcement officials in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, the DEA unveiled Operation Three Hour Tour, which successfully thwarted three major drug smuggling rings involving the U.S. states of California, New York, Connecticut, and Iowa in one day. These rings were responsible for trafficking thousands of pounds of illegal drugs into the United States each month. The DEA also launched Operation Mallorca to target the laundering of drug money by numerous Colombia-based brokers in 2005. Confiscating the goods purchased with drug profits was one of Tandy's priorities and as a result of this and other operations, the amount of goods seized quadrupled during her first three years as administrator.

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