The U.S. Justice Department has put an end to the Drug Enforcement Administration's random searches at airports.
The cessation comes after damning findings of legal failures and racial profiling surfaced from an official review, Fox News reported.
The order followed a report by Michael Horowitz, the Inspector General of the Justice Department, who severely criticized the DEA's search strategies at transportation hubs. In response to the criticism, the DEA spotlighted its random interventions, which not only lacked appropriate documentation but also involved racially biased targeting and unauthorized financial ties with informants.
A viral video released by the Institute for Justice showing a traveler named David C. resisting DEA agents during an intrusive search underscores the urgency of these issues. "I don't consent to search, sir," David C. stated, which was met with a dismissive response from the agent: "You don't have to consent." Despite his objections, agents searched him, causing David C. to miss his flight and raising public outcry over the incident.
Investigations revealed that certain airline employees improperly received incentives, pocketing thousands for tipping off agents about cash-heavy passengers. Thus, authorities tied the recompense not to thwarting substantial criminal threats but to the amount of cash seized during airport intercepts, turning the practice into a perverse revenue stream.
Critically, the Inspector General decried the practices for their operational inefficiency and lack of oversight, especially highlighting the DEA's inability to compile necessary search records and analytics.
As per Inspector General Horowitz, "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."
The report recommended re-evaluating search criteria, particularly the practice of flagging last-minute ticketholders as suspicious. The DEA used this approach during the controversial search of David C. and other travelers, none of whom had relevant criminal flags. The Justice Department has also placed a preliminary stop on "all consensual encounters at mass transportation facilities" unless explicitly approved in specific cases.
Musician Brian Moore's $8,500 confiscation by DEA agents, which he called "the worst experience of my life," highlights the broader impact of the DEA's overreach on ordinary citizens.
Indeed, the Institute for Justice, advocating on behalf of individuals like David C. and Brian Moore, has taken legal action against both the DEA and the Transportation Security Administration. The lawsuit aims to abolish profit-minded motives behind such searches.
Senior Attorney Dan Alban of the Institute for Justice emphasized, "We welcome DOJ’s suspension of this program as a first step, but policy directives can be changed at any time, under this or future administrations." His statement reflects a wariness of potential policy reversals without deeper institutional change.
Thus, the Justice Department's suspension of these random DEA searches marks only the preliminary step in addressing broader issues of oversight, legality, and policy within airport search operations. The directive halts immediate actions and sets the stage for a significant reevaluation of how authorities conduct security and searches in transportation settings.
