Tough job. Vital mission.

Those words have special meaning today in our complex world. The Drug Enforcement Administration is performing a critical law enforcement mission across America , and in over fifty countries around the globe. Making cases against the world's most dangerous and powerful drugs lords. Tracking drug finances through international banking systems. Finding links between terrorists and drug traffickers. Busting meth labs in middle America . Keeping city streets safe from urban drug gangs.

Even though DEA has been around since 1973, many people aren't familiar with the agency's vast responsibilities, its mission and its impact on Americans' day to day lives.

From Colombia to Afghanistan , and from LA to New York , DEA agents, investigators, analysts, chemists, lawyers and an army of thousands follow leads, find evidence and bring drug dealers to justice. No small task in a world where the world's drug supply begins in makeshift heroin conversion labs along the Pakistan-Afghan border, or in a pill mill in the Netherlands , or in a speed lab in a motel in some Midwestern town, or in a booby-trapped pot farm in Appalachia .

What's DEA?

The Drug Enforcement Administration was created in 1973 as the nation's top federal drug law enforcement agency. Today, the agency has evolved into a modern and sophisticated organization of men and women dedicated to keeping our nation safe from drug trafficking and abuse. DEA is in every major city within the United States , and has offices in over fifty countries around the world.

In enforcing the country's federal drug laws, DEA investigates and prosecutes individuals who grow, manufacture or distribute drugs within the U.S. and bring drugs into the United States from foreign countries. DEA also tracks down individuals who "divert" drugs from the legal market—mostly prescription drugs—and follows drug-related money which traffickers try to hide.

Where we are : DEA has offices all around the world. Special Agents and other DEA personnel-Intelligence analysts, Diversion Investigators, Chemists, lawyers, and support staff---all work together to make sure drug traffickers are brought to justice. Here's a look at where DEA is located.

DEA has 237 Domestic Offices throughout the
United States and 80 Foreign Offices in 58 countries