Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the weaknesses in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) controls over seized drugs that are used in reverse undercover operations (RUO) by the Miami Field Office.
GAO noted that: (1) the Miami Field Office did not have: (a) specific written procedures for a special operations account used to track drugs reserved for RUOs; (b) adequate information on related chain of custody records to document the activity of specific drug items reserved or used for RUOs; and (c) a list or log of drug items in the special operations account to facilitate identifying the type and amount of drugs available for use in RUOs; (2) for example, entries on the written chain of custody related either to initial transfers of drugs into special operations accounts or transfers back into the account following unsuccessful undercover operations did not list the quantity of drugs accepted for storage, the barcode number assigned to the drug item, or the case file number from which the drugs were acquired; (3) in addition, Miami Field Office officials stated that the documentation for cases from which drugs were reserved for use in RUOs, including chain of custody records, did not annotate the fact that all or part of the drugs were moved to the special operations account established for the reserved drugs; (4) rather, the original case file documentation for drugs transferred to the special account erroneously indicated that the drugs had been destroyed; (5) these weaknesses increase the potential for theft, misuse, and loss of drugs used in RUOs; and (6) however, during GAO's review, Miami Field Office officials addressed these control deficiencies immediately by developing specific written procedures for tracking the drugs reserved for RUOs.
