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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Attorney General Holder Says That Federal Government Needs to Have Strategy to Combat Drug Trafficking and Related Violence in Puerto Rico

AG’s Statements Made Upon Questioning By Resident Commissioner at Congressional Hearing

Washington, DC – During a hearing today before the House Judiciary Committee, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in response to questions from Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, agreed that the federal government “should develop” a plan to combat drug trafficking and related violence in Puerto Rico. The Attorney General also responded positively to Pierluisi’s request that the federal government provide for a temporary “surge” of resources to the Island in order to address the violence problem, noting that the Department of Justice has undertaken surges of agents and resources in other U.S. “hotspots” with high rates of violent crime and stating that Puerto Rico “would certainly be a candidate” for such a surge.

During the oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), at which the Attorney General appeared as the sole witness, the Resident Commissioner noted that he had written to President Obama earlier this week, asking him to direct the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to prepare and publish a Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy. Pierluisi observed that such a strategy would outline a federal government-wide plan of action to address drug trafficking and related violence in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and noted that ONDCP already prepares and publishes such a strategy for both the Southwest border and the Northern border. Based on this information, the Resident Commissioner asked the Attorney General whether he saw any reason why ONDCP should not prepare and publish a Caribbean border strategy.

General Holder responded: “I think this is absolutely a fair point and it is consistent with what I testified to before . . . . When one looks at the Caribbean, Puerto Rico in particular, I think we need to have a strategy. We have a Task Force on Puerto Rico that the Associate Attorney General is a co-chair of. I think, to the extent it is not explicit, we should develop such a plan.”

During his questioning, Pierluisi also noted that the last time General Holder appeared before the Committee he acknowledged that drug-related violence in the nation’s Caribbean territories was “a national security issue that we have to confront.”

Today, the Attorney General advised the Resident Commissioner that the DOJ had developed recruitment and retention programs to incentivize federal agents to go to, and remain in, Puerto Rico.

Pierluisi also asked General Holder to explain the concrete steps that DOJ has taken to strengthen the agency’s presence in Puerto Rico. He questioned the Attorney General as to why it would not be appropriate for DOJ to increase the resources it devotes to the Island, even if it is a “temporary surge,” similar to how the federal government responded when there was a spike in violence on the U.S. side of the Southwest border.

The Attorney General replied: “The issue that you raised about surges is something that we are starting to embrace, because although we have seen historic drops in the crime rate, we have seen hot spots, for lack of a better term, around the country, and what we are now doing is developing a capacity to surge agents and resources and money at times to help local law enforcement into those hot spots. We have done it in a couple of cities in the United States mainland and we plan on looking at other places. I think Puerto Rico, given the homicide rate, the violent crime rate far outstrips what is the national norm, would certainly be a candidate for such a surge.”

During today’s hearing, Pierluisi acknowledged that Attorney General Holder and his team have been working to address this problem. He noted that Holder and the heads of DOJ’s component agencies “have always made yourselves available to talk to me, despite your busy schedules.” The Resident Commissioner also recognized that “there have been some major success stories in recent months, including a joint federal-state operation yesterday that resulted in the arrests of dozens of airline workers in Puerto Rico who were smuggling drugs on flights to the mainland U.S. Your men and women in Puerto Rico are doing terrific and courageous work. I hope you know that I recognize and respect that.”

But, Pierluisi said, “it also clear to me, and to any reasonable observer, that far more needs to be done.” The Resident Commissioner read aloud language from the report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, recently approved by the House, which states: “The Committee is aware that efforts by Federal law enforcement to reduce drug trafficking and associated violence in the Southwest border region have affected trafficking routes and crime rates in the Caribbean. The Committee expects the Attorney General to address these trends by allocating necessary resources to areas substantially affected by drug-related violence, and reporting such actions to the Committee.”

“I know we are living in a environment of constrained resources, but this is a matter of prioritizing the limited resources you do have and making sure they are being allocated to the areas where the need is the most pressing. There has been a moderate increase in the number of DEA agents assigned to Puerto Rico. However, I understand that the number of FBI and ATF personnel assigned to Puerto Rico has remained stagnant or even gone down in the last few years. It just doesn’t seem to me that the federal government is acting with the sense of urgency that the situation demands,” said Pierluisi to Holder.