DEA Ends Transportation Interdiction Program After Watchdog Report Triggered by Footage Showing Agents Threatening, Abusing Innocent Traveler

ARLINGTON, Va.—In a memo quietly issued last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ceased operations of its controversial Transportation Interdiction Program (TIP). The program’s “consensual encounters” with travelers were suspended by the Department of Justice in November after the release of a critical Office of Inspector General (OIG) report. That report was in response to a video showing a traveler’s confrontation with DEA agents released by the Institute for Justice (IJ) in July.

“We welcome this much-needed policy change, which will help protect the rights of travelers from the abuses so many have suffered while flying. TIP encouraged DEA agents to prey on people who were flying with cash, even though doing so is perfectly legal.” said IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban. “But agency policies can be changed at any time, by any administration. We once again call on Congress to pass the FAIR Act to permanently reform federal civil forfeiture laws that encourage and enable this bad behavior. FAIR would end the profit incentive, close the equitable sharing loophole, and guarantee every property owner receives their day in court by ending so-called administrative forfeitures.”

The memo from DEA Administrator Anne Milgram says that the DEA evaluated the effectiveness of the program and found that it netted few arrests or drug proceeds in recent years. The “consensual encounters” used by the DEA agents at airports and other transportation hubs were often based only on a flyer’s purchase of a last-minute ticket, hardly a sign that someone is engaged in criminal conduct. Like David C., who recorded his interaction with DEA agents, including one who told him “I don’t need your consent” to search his bag, flyers felt that they had little choice but to submit to a DEA interrogation and bag search.

IJ is currently suing the DEA and Transportation Security Administration over their airport seizure and forfeiture practices. The lawsuit is a class action brought by three air travelers who had their property seized and, if successful, would include a class of all people who similarly had their property seized. The case is currently in discovery: https://ij.org/case/dea-tsa-forfeitures/.

In addition to lawsuits to protect travelers who had their property seized, IJ advocates for legislation that would end the profit incentive that fuels unconstitutional searches. In the last Congress, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation to reform federal civil forfeiture, H.R. 1525, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act. Among many reforms in the bill, the FAIR Act would send all forfeiture funds to the U.S. Treasury general fund rather than funds controlled directly by law enforcement agencies. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) also introduced a companion bill in the Senate late last term.