Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs


The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was a bureau within the United States Department of Justice and a predecessor agency of the modern Drug Enforcement Administration.

History

It was created by § 3 of the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1968, submitted to Congress on and effective. It was formed as a subsidiary of the United States Department of Justice, combining the Bureau of Narcotics and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control into one agency.
In 1973, the BNDD was merged into the newly formed Drug Enforcement Administration.

Activities

In 1971, the BNDD was composed of 1,500 agents and had a budget of some $43 million.
In January 1971 the Central Intelligence Agency director, Richard Helms, approved a program of "covert recruitment and security clearance support to BNDD", on request of the BNDD director, John Ingersoll. Ingersoll suspected widespread corruption among BNDD agents, and in December 1970 requested the CIA's assistance in rooting it out.

CIA involvement

The involvement of the CIA has been suspected and has been confirmed, regarding covert operations via BNDD.