ABSTRACT
The fight against drug trafficking is the epitome of international policing (Sheptycki 2000b). Ever since the early twentieth century, the United States has not only been the most conspicuous market for the consumption of drugs, but its police have also led in the development and promotion of new drug enforcement techniques. In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was created with the mandate to fight drug traffickers in the US and abroad in order to curb the supply of drugs on American streets. In 1968, the Bureau was reorganized and renamed Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). Since 1973, after another reorganization, it has been called the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Despite these institutional metamorphoses, American agencies have always been able to shape the investigative methods with which drug traffickers are fought at the international level.1
