The illegal drug problems
in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area are similar to those
found in many parts of the country with relatively small gangs
of local entrepreneurs selling their goods to their hungry customers.
But the area is unusual because at the federal level three semi-autonomous
U.S. Attorneys -- one in the District of Columbia, one in Maryland
and one in the Eastern District of Virginia -- direct the enforcement
efforts of the investigative agencies. To examine whether the
federal government had developed a well coordinated enforcement
effort for the region, reporter Brooke Masters examined Justice
Department data obtained by TRAC that focused on the Drug Enforcement
Administration. The information indicated that even within this
relatively small area the DEA's record was highly erratic. The
median sentence for individuals convicted as a result of DEA investigations,
for example, ranged from a high of ten years in the Virginia suburbs
of Washington, seven years in Maryland and a low of six years
in the District of Columbia. Masters' article was published on
March 30, 1997.
