By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com President Obama will name Julia Pierson as director of the U.S. Secret Service, the first female to head that agency, USA Today reported. An official announcement is expected Tuesday afternoon. Pierson, 53, now serves as the service’s chief of staff, USA Today reports. Other women who head law enforcement agencies include…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com With the meth problem growing, DEA’s top boss Michele M. Leonhart announced Thursday the signing of a new memorandum of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico “to aggressively address the continuing problem” of production. In a press release, the DEA said the U.S. and Mexican officials enjoy a strong cooperative relationship…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com To the DEA: Welcome to Bulgaria. The agency has opened an office in the city of Sofia, according to the FOCUS News agency. UThe opening of an office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Bulgaria is a sign for strategic partnership and cooperation between the US and Bulgaria,” Bulgarian Interior…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A DEA agent who was shot in the head last week in Afghanistan during a mission remains hospitalized in suburban D.C., but is expected to survive, according to someone familiar with the situation. Special agent Joe Piersante, a member of the Fast Team (Foreign Advisory Support Team), was seriously wounded in…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A DEA sting resulted in authorities charging a group of people with plotting to move large shipments of drugs and weapons for the Taliban, authorities announced Monday. In court documents unsealed in New York, authorities charged seven people with conspiring to provide “various forms of support to DEA confidential sources whom…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — The DEA and Treasury Department on Thursday accused the Lebanese Canadian Bank SAL and its subsidiaries (LCB) of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in drug profits by an organization linked to the Lebanese organization Hezbollah. In its announcement, authorities designated the bank as a “primary money laundering concern.”…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — After serving as acting head of the DEA since November 2007, Michele Leonhart finally got confirmed as the permanent leader of the agency. The U.S. Senate on Wednesday night unanimously voted to confirm Leonhart, making her the 10th administrator in the DEA’s history, the agency said. Leonhart is the…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday gave the nod to Michele Leonhart to head the DEA and Stacia Hylton to head up the U.S. Marshals Service. The approval came by way of a voice vote on both presidential nominees. The nominations now go before the full Senate for a…
