The upcoming, forced budget cuts will elimnate $2 million of a $20 million budget for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), according to the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Reason reported on Feb. 25 that the center no longer exists.
The NDIC started its operations in 1993 to "coordinate and consolidate drug intelligence from all national security and law enforcement agencies, and produce information regarding the structure, membership, finances, communications, and activities of drug trafficking organizations," according to the center's archived website.
The National Drug Intelligence Center closed on June 15, 2012, according to the Department of Justice. The OMB sent the report to Congress in September of 2012 — 3 months after the center closed, according to Reason.
So where is the money? According to Reason, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) absorbed some of the center's employees last year for $8 million. The OMB report listed the NDIC as being a division of the Justice Department, not the DEA. According to the documents and Reason's reporting, that still leaves $12 million up in smoke.
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