DEA Special Agent case studies
DEA Special Agent · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The DEA Special Agent selection process is the hiring pathway through which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recruits and assesses candidates for Special Agent positions. The DEA Special Agent case studies are 5 cases and about 3,354 words.
1The Missing $500 and the Corrected Receipt
You are seven months into your first DEA special agent assignment and riding with a 19-year field training officer you respect. During a pre-dawn raid on a stash apartment, agents seize two kilograms of cocaine and a shoebox of cash from a bedroom closet.
734 words, about 4 min2The Blue Cooler and the Twenty-Five-Minute Window
At 14:05, while monitoring a Title III wire on a methamphetamine organization, you hear target 'Rayo' tell an unidentified male, 'The blue cooler goes to the shop at five, same as last time.' Prior intercepts establish that 'blue cooler' means methamphetamine and 'the shop' is an auto body shop where agents seized one kilogram six weeks ago. At 14:15, surveillance spots a gray pickup with a cracked windshield leaving Rayo's street; a cooler is visible in the bed.
704 words, about 4 min3The Thin Affidavit and the Eleven-Day-Old Observation
You are the case agent preparing a federal search warrant affidavit for a residence that you believe is a cocaine stash house. Your confidential informant, who has provided information in three prior investigations resulting in two convictions, says he personally saw three kilograms of cocaine in the residence eleven days ago.
642 words, about 3 min4The 12,000 Oxycodone Tablets Outside the Squad's Lane
You are a GS-13 special agent on a squad whose mission is cartel-linked cocaine trafficking. Over the past 60 days, three pharmacies in your area have reported a total of 12,000 oxycodone tablets unaccounted for.
639 words, about 3 min5The Stand-Down Order at the Jurisdictional Boundary
You are the case agent on a joint DEA-local operation targeting a meth distributor. At 21:40, surveillance reports the target's vehicle leaving a suspected conversion lab with two duffel bags.
635 words, about 3 min