How to Become a DEA Agent in Texas by Meeting Requirements

Sharing 1,254-miles of border with Mexico places DEA agents in Texas on the front line in the fight against the incursion of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines making its way into the United States. The geography of Texas gives smugglers a variety of options for conducting their illicit business, and DEA agents must be ready to interdict marine vessels from the Gulf of Mexico, patrol the river border and its transit routes, operate in the deserts and high plains of the state, and even intercept drugs launched by catapults.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has identified four high-intensity drug trafficking areas in Texas:

  • Houston
  • North Texas
  • Southwest Border and South Texas region, including Laredo
  • West Texas region including Fort Stockton and Odessa

Texas’s shared border with Mexico presents a great challenge all by itself. However, Texas is also by land area the largest state in the continental US and has the second largest population in the country. These factors combine to create an imperative for a significant number of DEA jobs in the state.

Marijuana and drugs such as ecstasy, heroin, and cocaine continue to be a problem; however, the number of rural meth labs seized has been on the rise since 2007, and the principal drug threat in the North Texas region is now ice (methamphetamine). The fastest rising drug epidemic in the country is prescription drug abuse, and this epidemic has not spared the lone star state.

Recent DEA Action in Texas

In a recent operation in Corpus Christi dating back to 2008, DEA agents arrested seven people on charges of conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of meth, with most of the suspects facing additional charges of conspiring to possess more than five kilograms of cocaine.

109 pounds of marijuana was discovered hidden in the gas tank of a truck crossing into Texas at the Presidio border crossing. DEA agents made a deal with the driver of the truck to continue with the delivery of the contraband, which ultimately led them to arrest three family members on charges of possession of marijuana for distribution.

El Paso DEA agents, in cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security officials recently arrested a local county commissioner and legislature candidate in connection with a money laundering and drug trafficking scheme involving the distribution of more than 50 kilograms of marijuana.

How to Become a DEA Agent in Texas

Texas DEA jobs may be available to skilled individuals who have a clean criminal record and meet other education and physical requirements. Prospective candidates should have at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field, and the DEA prefers those with:

  • J.D. or LL.B.
  • Master’s degree
  • Study in the field of
    • Foreign languages
    • Engineering
    • Law
    • Auditing
    • Accounting
    • IT

Agents will receive training in the areas of:

  • Firearms, including shoulder-fired weapons
  • Drug recognition
  • Law
  • Defensive tactics
  • Deadly force
  • Control and arrest procedures
  • Surveillance
  • Drug raids
  • Vehicle stops and arrests

DEA Special Agent assignments in Texas:

If a prospective agent meets the requirements to become a DEA agent in Texas then the next step is to be assigned to one of the field offices located throughout the state:

  • Amarillo
  • Fort Worth
  • Lubbock
  • Tyler
  • Beaumont
  • Austin
  • Corpus Christi
  • Brownsville
  • Del Rio
  • Eagle Pass
  • Galveston
  • Laredo
  • McAllen
  • San Antonio
  • Waco
  • Midland
  • Alpine

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