Foreign drug cartels funded ‘sex parties’ attended by Drug Enforcement Administration agents serving overseas, Justice Department investigators say in a new report.
A foreign police officer alleged that “prostitutes funded by the local drug cartels” were provided the DEA agents “at their government-leased quarters, over a period of several years,” according to the report issued Thursday by the department’s Office of Inspector General.
“Although some of the DEA agents participating in these parties denied it, the information in the case file suggested they should have known the prostitutes in attendance were paid with cartel funds,” the OIG investigators stated.
One DEA Supervisory Special Agent frequented a “prostitution establishment” while overseas and “often took agents serving on temporary duty to this establishment and facilitated sexual encounters there,” according to the report.
Ultimately, seven of the 10 agents investigated admitted attending parties with prostitutes while they were stationed overseas. The DEA imposed penalties ranging from a two-day suspension to a 10-day suspension, according to the report, while one of the line agents was cleared of all wrongdoing.
The OIG investigators concluded at least some of the incidents were not adequately investigated, while the DEA said in its formal response that “the investigations were investigated properly through DEA 's disciplinary process for related misconduct.”
In other ways, the DEA and other Justice Department agencies said in formal responses that they concurred with OIG recommendations.
The report examined how Justice Department agencies handled sexual misconduct and harassment allegations made against their employees. At first, OIG investigators say, they encountered some resistance.
“The OIG’s ability to conduct this review was significantly impacted and delayed by the repeated difficulties we had in obtaining relevant information from both the FBI and DEA as we were initiating this review in mid-2013,” the report noted.
The investigators reported finding “relatively few reported allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in the Department’s law enforcement components for fiscal years 2009 through 2012,” while also noting some “significant systemic issues.” These reported issues included lack of coordination between internal affairs and security personnel and incomplete reporting.
In one case cited by investigators, “the DEA agents’ in-country supervisors were aware of several loud parties with prostitutes that occurred at a Special Agent’s government-leased quarters, because the Special Agent had received four complaint letters from building management.” Nonetheless, investigators say, the DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility was not notified.
In another case cited by investigators, officials “failed to promptly report allegations that a Deputy U.S. Marshal solicited prostitutes while on an extradition mission in Bangkok, Thailand.”
“Each time U.S. State Department officials attempted to contact him,” the OIG investigators reported, “two women with heavy foreign accents answered the phone and stated the (deputy marshal) could not be disturbed. A local investigator for the State Department spoke to one of the women in Thai, (who) confirmed she was a prostitute.”
The Justice Department, in its forma response, stated that it “will develop policy guidance that communicates the Department's expectations regarding the solicitation of prostitutes in foreign jurisdictions even when the conduct is legal or tolerated, and ensure that all component offense tables include language prohibiting this conduct.”