Agents operating out of the DEA’s Fairbanks Post of Duty face the drug problems of Alaska’s largest interior city with a population over 32,000. The State of Alaska has the highest rate of marijuana use for adults over 26 years old in the country, and this is also one of the issues DEA agents face in Fairbanks. Prescription drug abuse also plagues the city, as does heroin addiction.
Requirements for DEA Jobs and Careers
Prospective special agents must meet at least one of the following requirements set forth by the DEA:
- A B.A. with a 2.95 GPA, an M.A., an LL.B., or a J.D.
- Law or drug enforcement experience including:
- Collection and preparation of evidence for presentation in court
- Pursuit, apprehension, and arrest of suspects
- A B.A. with at least three years of experience in a strategic field and related coursework, including:
- Running undercover or surveillance operations
- Engineering
- Accounting
- Military
- Pilot’s license
- Auditing
- Information technology/systems
- Foreign languages
- Balkan languages
- Nigerian dialects
- Mandarin Chinese
- Spanish
- French
There are several public and private schools in Alaska offering at least four-year degrees in areas identified as strategic by the DEA, including online institutions. Careers and jobs with the DEA begin by meeting the initial requirements and making it through the highly selective application process. A good first step for prospective agents is to learn about this process and how to prepare.
DEA Action in Fairbanks
DEA Agents operating in Fairbanks are highly trained and educated in their field of expertise. The same does not always hold true for the people they arrest. Recently the Alaska State-Wide Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) – an agency that works in collaboration with the DEA – was executing a search warrant on a house at 3:00 am when a man walked up to agents saying he was looking for a resident who lived in the house. Upon realizing he was speaking to SDEU personnel the man quickly tried to leave, but was detained by agents who found he was carrying 3.5 grams of methamphetamine and $7,000 cash. A later search of his residence resulted in another arrest of a woman resident and seizure of three firearms, one of which was stolen, four ounces of meth, and $12,000 in cash.
Two Fairbanks men were arrested on charges relating to the production of ecstasy after one them sold undercover DEA agents pills on two separate occasions. The dealer unwittingly told the agents he was not the producer of the drugs, and fingered the second suspect who was also arrested. The two men manufactured the drugs in different colored batches in the hopes of deceiving law enforcement officials into thinking they were from different sources.
Fairbanks State Troopers, working with information from the DEA, recently raided a suspected small-scale methamphetamine manufacturing house in Fairbanks. Acting on a tip, law enforcement officials discovered a jar with suspicious residue that was sent to a crime lab for analysis. DEA agents note that meth production in the U.S. has recently dropped because of a ban on key chemicals, though production in Mexico has alternately increased.