Pubdate: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 Source: Detroit Free Press (MI) Copyright: 2001 Detroit Free Press Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125 Website: http://www.freep.com/February 28, 2002 Author: Lenny Savino DEA CHIEF SAYS AGENTS INFLATED ARREST FIGURES WASHINGTON -- Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Asa Hutchinson confirmed Wednesday that agents in the DEA's office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, had claimed credit for hundreds of arrests in which they played no role. "There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of reporting," Hutchinson said of the inflated statistics. Citing privacy concerns, he would not spell out disciplinary action against the agents, saying only that it ranged from a 14-day suspension to a letter of reprimand. The DEA's top official was responding to a new report from the General Accounting Office, auditors for Congress. It confirmed a February 2001 report that the DEA's Caribbean division, based in San Juan, had inflated drug seizure and arrest figures to attest to its success. The San Juan DEA office's figures included hundreds of routine street busts for marijuana made by Jamaican police without DEA participation, Jamaican authorities have said. The arrests occurred during a monthlong DEA-led regional drug dragnet called Operation Libertador. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk