As of 2011, it was estimated that 10,000 drug dealers were selling to 65,000 cocaine and heroin users in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are working alongside law enforcement in Baltimore to combat the massive drug problems facing the city.
Drug-Related Arrests in Baltimore
According to information from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Central Records Division, Maryland State Police, the total number of arrests in the city of Baltimore increased by 5741 between the years 2001 and 2005. Drug arrests in Baltimore during the same period actually decreased by 1722. This may be because Baltimore law enforcement has focused on the war on violent crime in recent years rather than fighting what they consider to be a losing battle – the war on drugs in Baltimore. The UCR program reports that in 2005, most possession drug-related arrests in Baltimore were for opium or cocaine (includes heroin and all cocaine derivatives). The second most likely drug to be found on those arrested in the city was marijuana. About half of the city’s average of 40 homicides per 100,000 people as of 2011 were attributed to drugs.
The Business of Drug Dealing in Baltimore
Baltimore provides a lucrative market for drug dealers. On Pennsylvania Avenue alone, it has been estimated that drug dealers earn $10 million per year. The business of drug dealing in Baltimore has also gone high-tech, with dealers now able to track shipments of drugs online.
Drug dealing is not a common aspiration for most youth, but for Melvin Williams, Baltimore resident, it was. For 10 years during the 1970s and 1980s, he became known as Baltimore’s most successful drug dealer. Although he was very intelligent as a child, as a junior in high school he decided to drop out, turning to gambling in the streets of Baltimore to make a living. After being mentored by a crime boss, Williams himself became an established loan shark and drug dealer. During the 1970s, Williams sold an average of 50 kilos of heroin each month, with each kilo valued at $75,000.
Despite the fact that Williams was in and out of prison, he lived up to his dream of being Baltimore’s most successful drug dealer during his time in the city. He was the inspiration for a character on the HBO series “The Wire,” and even played a church deacon in the series, which aired in the early 2000s. Williams is out of prison now and opened a vocational training center in Baltimore in 2006.
How to Become a DEA Agent in Baltimore
The only way to become a DEA agent in Baltimore is by meeting requirements. If one does not have specialized experience in drug or narcotics investigations, one must have a bachelor’s degree with a high grade point average, a master’s degree, or a J.D or L.L.B. law degree. Complete information on qualifying for Baltimore DEA jobs and careers is found here.
Baltimore lies within the Washington, D.C. Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). A District Office exists in Baltimore. For those interested in becoming DEA agents in Baltimore, the Special Agent Recruiter for this office and division may be reached at (202) 305-8126.