Agents affiliated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have been instructed to stop searching travelers at airports or other “mass transportation facilities” without a warrant, following a directive issued by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The directive, issued earlier this month, followed an investigation by the IG’s office.
“The DEA’s failure to collect data for each consensual encounter, as required by its own policy, and its continued inability to provide us with any assessment of the success of these interdiction efforts once again raise questions about whether these transportation interdiction activities are an effective use of law enforcement resources – and leaves the DEA once again unable to provide adequate answers to those questions,” Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz determined. Horowitz further warned that the agency’s lack of transparency created “substantial risks that DEA Special Agents and Task Force Officers will conduct these activities improperly; impose unwarranted burdens on, and violate the legal rights of, innocent travelers.”
This comes after over 75% of travelers are worried about carrying cannabis of any kind when traveling because of strict guidelines presented by the DEA and other government agencies.
