Jeralyn Merritt writes about how the DEA now appears to be an organization that enforces American drug laws anywhere in the world, regardless of whether or not the drugs were destined for the United States. In this particular case, our DEA conducted a sting of people running a drug smuggling ring from South America to Europe, through Africa. And American taxpayers will now bear the costs of trying and incarcerating those caught in the sting. When exactly did we vote to become the moral nannies for the whole world? As Pete Guither points out, this would be like sending DEA agents to French bars to arrest underage drinkers.
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Unbelievable. Lee, April Fool’s Day has past. This can’t be real.
Will the last one out of Amurka, please turn off the lights?
Wow. Time to disband the DEA.
I haven’t read the statutes, but I’m presuming that they don’t require proof that the drugs were intended to be smuggled into the U.S., because that would probably be an impossible burden. It’s reasonable to presume that once the drugs enter into the stream of illegal commerce, there is no
Perhaps they are also operating under a joint compact with some European nations? But that wouldn’t explain the prosecution into U.S. courts.
Either way, I would expect the defendants to challenge the in personam jurisdiction of the U.S. court. It will be interesting to see if they meet the “minimum contacts” with the U.S. required under U.S. Constitutional Law.
@3 This assumes, of course, that they’re going to bother with a trial.
@3
There’s a lot more detail in Jeralyn’s post.