With a total population of more than 6.8 million, the Dallas/ Forth Worth metropolitan area is the largest one in the state of Texas, the largest one in the Southern United States and the fourth most populous area in the entire country, which makes it an major drug smuggling and selling corridor for traffickers. Because Texas shares the largest border with Mexico, drug cartels from Mexico constantly smuggle drugs across the various border checkpoints in the southern portion of the state. The city of Dallas is located on a series of major highways that go West towards California, east towards Florida and North towards New York City and Chicago, which makes it one of the most trafficked areas in the United States.
The Dallas division of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is one of the largest in the country and is responsible for curbing and intervening in drug trafficking into the city, as well as drugs that moves through the city en route to other places around the country. Because of this, the Dallas division supports many DEA jobs.
High Profile DEA Busts in Dallas
The following is a list of some of the most recent drug busts in and around Dallas:
- January 2013: The Dallas DEA busted a shipment of 269 pounds of marijuana en route to Dallas. The freight crossed the Mexico/ Texas border at a border crossing station in Brownsville. An informant told DEA agents that the marijuana was going to be stored in an empty warehouse in Dallas, and that the operation had been successful multiple times in the past.
- March 2013: Dallas DEA agents uncovered a drug smuggling operation in which Mexican drug cartels would get drugs across the border by hiding them in toxic waste barrels. The drugs (which included marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine) would be submerged in toxic waste.
The Dallas DEA Hiring Process
The biggest drug problems in Dallas are marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, but prescription drugs and heroin are also common drugs smuggled over the border from Mexico, and produced in the area, as is the case with methamphetamine. Careers with the Dallas DEA are numerous. The following is a list of the most common jobs available with the agency:
- Special Agent
- Forensic Scientist
- Administration
- Diversion Investigator
- Intelligence Researcher
When determining how to become a DEA agent in Dallas, there is set of requirements an applicant must meet, as well as training they must undergo. The following are some of the basic requirements that must be met in order to apply:
- Must be at least 21 years of age
- Must be a U.S. citizen
- Must have a valid driver’s license
Also, you must have those requirements in combination with one of the following:
- A bachelor’s degree with at least a 2.95 GPA or a Master’s, LL. B, or J.D. Degree
- Specialized experience in drug and narcotics investigations
- A bachelor’s degree and 3 years experience in maritime, pilot, accounting/ auditing, military, mechanical/ technical or language fluency experience, plus a bachelor’s degree