A secret DEA unit known as the Special Operations Division (SOD) has been sharing its information with law enforcement to launch criminal investigations across the country. Intelligence gleaned from the unit’s massive database of telephone records, wiretaps, and informants has been provided to police officers often unbeknownst to defendants, prosecutors and even judges. Documents reviewed by Reuters reveal the use of “Parallel Construction,” a technique Law enforcement agents use to recreate the information provided by SOD using regular police tactics. This helps insure that the source of their information remains secret.
The program, which began in 1994 under the Clinton administration, was initially formed to help combat Latin American drug cartels. It has now become “a bedrock concept” for criminal investigations across the country. Due to it’s confidential nature, the extent to which this technique is practiced is widely unknown. Attorneys are calling the program “indispensable,” and “utterly unconstitutional.”
Read the full story at Reuters
