NADDIS
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The Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Information System, or NADDIS, is a data index and collection system operated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).[1] Comprising millions of DEA reports and records on individuals, NADDIS is a system by which intelligence analysts, investigators and others in law enforcement retrieve reports from the DEA's Investigative Filing and Reporting System (IFRS).[2] NADDIS is thought to have become the most widely used, if least known, tool in drug law enforcement.[2]
The database has been described by DEA as a "pointer index" by which records on millions of individuals, many with no criminal history, can be reviewed quickly to locate complete reports on a subject of interest, their address or phone number.[1][2]
A NADDIS check is the first step in any criminal drug inquiry and reveals the existence of any prior reports of investigation or mention in any file of an individual, business, airfield, plane, vessel or phone number.[3] The existence of a NADDIS record on an individual has been employed to provide probable cause for airport searches, surveillance and home entries.[4] By contrast, the absence of a NADDIS record has been grounds for permitting bond for criminal defendants.
NADDIS also is routinely used by DEA and other agencies to conduct background checks on prospective employees, contractors and informants,[5] with a NADDIS check in one instance revealing a DEA database contractor's prior involvement in drug trafficking.[6]
The NADDIS access log
NADDIS logs the access of NADDIS by any authorized DEA employee and records the time, date, location and identity of the employee who requested access to a particular file. These access logs or "detail reports" have been utilized by DEA Headquarters to identify DEA employees who provided NADDIS records to criminal organizations or who have improperly accessed NADDIS21. Agencies' access logs have also been considered by district courts in resolving legal issues over the timing of agents' and prosecutors' awareness of investigative records on a subject. Thus, the use of NADDIS detail reports to detect government improprieties is similar to the use of other law enforcement database access logs in demonstrating police misconduct. For example, in Kansas the FBI's Interstate Identification Index (III) access log confirmed improper access by a sheriff who conducted criminal history checks against political opponents.