Since its founding in 1973 the mission of the DEA has been to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States, and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any competent jurisdiction, organizations and their principal members involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing, in or destined for, illicit traffic in the United States, and recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing availability of illicit controlled substances.

On this page you can read how DEA and its people have fulfilled this mission over the past five decades, and the important work of our predecessor agencies during “The Early Years” of federal drug law enforcement in the United States.