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El Paso Intelligence Center

The El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) was established in 1974 in response to a Department of Justice study. The study, which detailed drug and border enforcement strategy and programs, proposed the establishment of a Southwest Border intelligence service center to be staffed by representatives of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Customs Service and the DEA. The original EPIC staff was comprised of 17 employees from the three founding agencies. Initially, EPIC focused on the U.S.-Mexico border and its primary interest was drug movement and immigration violations.

Today, EPIC still concentrates primarily on drug movement and immigration violations. Because these criminal activities are seldom limited to one geographic area, EPIC's focus has broadened to include all of the United States and the Western Hemisphere where drug and alien movements are directed toward the United States. Staffing at the DEA-led center has increased to over 300 analysts, agents, and support personnel from 15 federal agencies, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas Air National Guard. Information sharing agreements with other federal law enforcement agencies, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and each of the 50 states ensure that EPIC support is available to those who need it. A telephone call, fax, or teletype from any of these agencies provides the requestor real-time information from different federal databases, plus EPIC's own internal database.

In addition to these services, a number of EPIC programs are dedicated to post-seizure analysis and the establishment of links between recent enforcement actions and ongoing investigations. EPIC also coordinates training for state and local officers in the methods of highway drug and drug currency interdiction through its Operation Pipeline program. EPIC personnel coordinate and conduct training seminars throughout the United States, covering such topics as indicators of trafficking and concealment methods used by couriers.

In a continuing effort to stay abreast of changing trends, EPIC has developed the National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure Database. EPIC's future course will also be driven by the National General Counterdrug Intelligence Plan. As a major national center in the new drug intelligence architecture, EPIC will serve as a clearinghouse for the HITDA Intelligence Centers, gathering state and local law enforcement drug information and providing drug intelligence back to the HIDTA Intelligence Centers.