Trump May Cut Crime Unit That Helped Capture El Chapo: Report
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President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal could eliminate the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a federal program that has played a key role in combating transnational drug trafficking and was instrumental in the investigation that led to the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
An email from a Department of Justice (DOJ) budget analyst to a counterpart at OCDETF said the unit's budget for the 2026 fiscal year will be "zeroed out," and the office will be dissolved, according to records obtained by Bloomberg.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and the DOJ for comment.
Why It Matters
The OCDETF has collected more than $2 billion in proceeds seized and forfeited from criminal networks over the past two fiscal years.
The unit currently has thousands of open investigations, and it is unclear if the probes will end or continue under different agencies if the office is dissolved.
What to Know
The Trump administration unveiled its fiscal year 2026 budget on May 2, proposing a 22.6 percent reduction in discretionary non-defense spending, or $163 billion below current levels. The "skinny" budget proposal would slash most domestic spending while increasing national security spending to a record $1.01 trillion, a 13 percent hike over the prior year, according to Axios.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
The White House's budget plan would also allocate more money toward immigration enforcement.
The administration is recommending a $33.2 billion cut to the DOJ's budget. Eliminating OCDETF was not explicitly mentioned in the Trump administration's public budget documents.
Critics argue the proposal contradicts the administration's rhetoric about cracking down on drug cartels. OCDETF has coordinated operations between the DEA, FBI, IRS and Homeland Security, focusing on top-tier drug networks and money laundering operations.
OCDETF's fusion center in Virginia is home to intelligence and financial data that investigators and prosecutors use to build profiles on individuals and criminal networks. The DOJ budget analyst's email said the center will be closed.
The proposed elimination of OCDETF also appears at odds with Trump's "Operation Take Back America," a platform aimed at eliminating drug cartels and criminal organizations. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the operation will use OCDETF resources in a March 6 memo.
What People Are Saying
Blanche, in a March 6 memo: "Operation Take Back America requires that OCDETF surge existing resources to address the Justice Department's core enforcement priorities: stopping illegal immigration, eliminating Cartels and TCOs, and ending illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs and human beings."
Office of Management and Budget proposal: "The Administration is committed to putting an end to deadly drug trafficking, which starts with secure borders and a commitment to law and order."
What Happens Next
The Trump administration's broader domestic cuts have already prompted pushback from lawmakers, including Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, who said the president "wants to outright defund programs that help working Americans."
The fate of hundreds of ongoing OCDETF-supported investigations and the future of its intelligence center remain unresolved as lawmakers weigh whether to support or reject the administration's proposal.
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