By Steve Neavling
In an effort to tackle the growing fentanyl crisis and curb the influence of Mexican drug cartels, the Trump administration has appointed veteran counternarcotics agent Derek Maltz as the acting administrator of the DEA.
The agency announced Maltz’s appointment through a news release Tuesday afternoon. According to the DEA, he steps into the role following the departure of Anne Milgram, the Biden administration’s DEA Administrator, who resigned last week.
“I promise to lead the men and women of DEA with integrity and grit,” Maltz said. “DEA will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of the cartels who threaten this great nation.”
With 28 years of service under his belt, Maltz said the DEA is uniquely positioned to lead drug enforcement and intelligence initiatives. He emphasized the importance of collaboration with federal, state, and local partners to dismantle powerful drug cartels and spread life-saving awareness through community partnerships.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, lauded Maltz’s selection, describing him as “an outstanding choice” for the position, USA Today reports.
“At a time when so many of our people have been killed by fentanyl and other drugs, he’s exactly what we need,” said Roy, who has previously championed legislation to classify major Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The appointment comes after President Trump’s initial nominee, Chad Chronister, the sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, withdrew from consideration just two days after being announced in December, citing the “gravity” of the role.
The DEA, operating under the Justice Department with more than 80 offices worldwide, serves as the central force in the nation’s fight against organized crime and drug trafficking operations fueling the synthetic opioid epidemic.
Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, often smuggled from Mexico disguised as counterfeit prescription pills, have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in the United States in recent years, marking it as the most devastating drug crisis in the country’s history.
Before retiring in 2014, Maltz led the DEA’s Special Operations Division (SOD), a hub in Chantilly, Va., that coordinates the international fight against drugs and organized crime.
Even after his retirement, Maltz has remained a vocal advocate for aggressive action against transnational criminal organizations. He has consistently pushed for groups like the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels to be officially designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
