Anti-Drug Unit Officially Shut Down by DOJ
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces responsibilities, including 5,000 existing case, have been transferred to a new set of task forces under the Department of Homeland Security.
Pam Bondi, US attorney general, left, and Kristi Noem, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during an announcement on the Homeland Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
Photographer: Will Oliver/EPAHello FOIA Files readers! It’s day 38 of the government shutdown. That means Freedom of Information Act requests haven’t been processed for more than a month! Thankfully, I have a reserve of documents that I received from various agencies well before the government’s Oct. 1 closure. That should hold me over for a while—and keep FOIA Files running strong. This week, I’m breaking out a handful of documents that serve as a follow-up to a story I broke about the dissolution of a Department of Justice office that combats transnational organized crime networks. And coming Tuesday: another episode of my new FOIA podcast, Disclosure! I’ll give you a three word preview: White House toilets. If you’re not already getting FOIA Files in your inbox, sign up here. You can find Disclosure here and on all major podcast platforms.
Earlier this year, I got a tip that the DOJ was shutting down its Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, otherwise known by its awkward acronym, OCDETF. The Reagan-era unit, which comprises hundreds of prosecutors and thousands of intelligence and law enforcement personnel from across the federal government, has long been responsible for dismantling major transnational organized crime networks, drug cartels and human trafficking rings. The task forces played a role in the 2019 capture of Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.