DEA Takes a Gritty Look at Drug Enforcement from All Sides

Anyone thinking that DEA is just going to be Cops for drug enforcement officers will be in for a pleasant surprise, whether you are a fan of Cops or not. The new reality show, which debuts on Spike TV this Wednesday at 11PM, is much more than a mere a day-in-the-life of a cop montage, filled with shirtless perpetrators and mild car chases.

DEA takes the viewers on an in-depth journey into the operations of Detroit’s Drug Enforcement Administration, and manages to be both entertaining and informative without stooping to over dramatization and sensationalism.

In the premiere episode of the Al Roker produced reality show, we are introduced to a group in the Motor City’s DEA, and we learn that each person in the group plays a specific role that assists them in the dangerous task of getting drugs off the streets. The show begins with a 6am trip to a neat, tree lined, seemingly middle-class neighborhood, where the officers are planning to raid a crack house. As the group prepares to invade the house, they are told to be ready for anything; to expect guns, dogs, kids- essentially the worst case scenario. Indeed they should, because while one would normally expect firearms, and the occasional Rotweiller or two protect the dealer’s assets, the target of the raid is likely the dealer’s home, and there could be innocent children inside. In this case, there are no children; just dealers and smokers, and the bust goes off without a hitch.

Next we are taken through a “buy walk”, which is a situation where agents work undercover with an informant to bust a dealer. This is where we begin to learn about the actual process of taking drugs off the streets of a city.

The informant or C.I., is typically someone who was busted for dealing drugs themselves, and in order to save their hides, they agree to turn in their sources. These informants are an integral part of the workings of the DEA; without them the agents would have no clue as to what was going on in the streets. The agents and informants form a tenuous relationship, where each is forced to trust each other with their futures. While the informant is faced with prison time if things do not go well, if the information betrays the agents, it could cost the agents their lives.

In this scenario, the C.I.’s information leads the DEA to a much more dangerous part of Detroit, where there are abandoned houses among the tree lined streets, and residents appear to have a greater struggle for existence. The agents have some information about the dealer they are going to bust: he is a 60 year old man. They know that he is a career dealer, and at this point in his life he is probably getting others to deal for him because he is too old to run the streets. They raid the home, as always expecting the worst, and what they find is pathetic. They have caught the elderly man entirely off guard; he is lying on the sofa, high on the heroin that he is selling. There are no guns drawn by the dealer, no dogs, no children; just a solitary man nodding off in the midst of his squalor filled home.

As the agents search the debris strewn house for incriminating evidence, they come upon a realization: the vials of prescription medication among the needles and trash let them know that someone in the home has AIDS, most likely the dealer.

They attempt to get the dealer to “flip”; to turn in his supplier and in return go free. The average drug dealer could face 20 years if convicted, so turning in a source is an attractive option to consider. Although the man’s face has been blurred to protect his identity, there is clearly an oxygen tube running from his face to a tank somewhere amidst the drugs and garbage. The old man refuses to turn in his sources, and it seems that he has made the right choice considering his situation. This is one case where the dealer may be better off in jail than trying to spend his last days fending for himself.

The next bust goes better for the DEA. They raid the home of a woman, who is in fact armed. They break into her well kept home, and she gives up without a fight. In the early minutes of the bust, they cuff her, sit her down and explain to her that they don’t want her; they want her supplier, and offer a deal for her to flip. This offer is only on the table in the early stages of the bust, and in this case the woman takes the deal. The agents have her call her supplier to set up a buy, and the buy bust goes off smoothly. During the bust, the informant is arrested along with the dealer, so as not to raise suspicion of a set up. Afterward, the informant is let go. They offer the supplier a deal to flip. He won’t bite. He goes to jail.

At the end of the episode, it is revealed that in the three arrests made, the DEA have taken $10,000 in drugs and 2 firearms off the street. Not bad for a day’s work.

DEA could have taken the low road when dealing with a subject that in and of itself brings danger to mind at first thought. There could have been guns drawn all over the place, and it could have taken on the feel of watching a real life crime drama, where the viewers are subjected to 60 minutes of good guys versus bad guys. Instead, we are given an intelligent, informative view of the illegal drug trade. We are shown what is involved in getting drugs off the street, and that the ultimate goal of the DEA is to stop drugs at the top of the food chain. No major suppliers; no drugs in your neighborhood…at least not for a while. It also dares to takes a human look at both the dealers and the agents, and shows that, ultimately everyone is trying to live their lives the best way they know how; whether or not their way is the most productive way.

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