GAO SAYS DEA EVIDENCE PROCEDURES LAX

"There is an inherent risk of theft, misuse, and loss of drugs," reports the General Accounting office in a November report, "Seized Drugs and Weapons", ( online at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/ai00017.pdf ), that looks at how poorly the Drug Enforcement Administration, which seized more than 275,000 kilograms of illegal drugs in fiscal year 1998, kept track of such evidence.  The report suggests that some runny noses at the DEA may not simply be due to the common cold.  "Weaknesses related to DEA's accountability over drug...evidence...included ( 1 ) incomplete and missing drug evidence documentation, including chain of custody documentation, ( 2 ) inaccurate recordkeeping of...evidence, and ( 3 ) improper accounting for drug weights, including unverified and unexplained weight differences in drug exhibits.