DEA SPENDS $123,000 TO FLY AGENCY CHIEF TO COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON -- The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration spent
more than $123,000 to charter a private jet to fly to Bogota,
Colombia, last fall instead of taking one of the agency's 106 planes.

The DEA paid a contractor an additional $5,380 to arrange Acting
Administrator Michele Leonhart's trip last Oct. 28-30 with an outside
company.

The DEA scheduled the trip as the nation was reeling from the worst
economic crisis in decades and the national debt was climbing toward
$10 trillion. Three weeks later, lawmakers slammed chief executive
officers from three automakers for flying to Washington in private
jets as Congress debated whether to bail out the auto industry.

William Brown, the special agent in charge of the DEA's aviation
division, said he had asked DEA contractor L-3 Communications to
arrange the flight because the plane that ordinarily would have flown
the administrator was grounded for scheduled maintenance. He said he
didn't question the cost at the time.

"Was it excessive? I guess you could look at it that way, but I don't
think so," he said.

"I understand the concern about costs for these things. But we do our
best to keep costs under control. I think the DEA is very conservative
compared to other agencies."

Last fiscal year, the DEA's aviation division spent about $76 million.
The agency flies its planes for law enforcement operations and drug
surveillance throughout the nation and the world, according to the
DEA's Web site.

The arrangement last fall was the first time that the aviation
division hired an outside company for a flight, Brown said. Usually,
the DEA flies one of its own planes.

If one of the agency's jets isn't available for official trips, the
DEA can borrow one from another federal agency to avoid racking up
unnecessary costs to taxpayers. However, Brown said he didn't consider
seeking a loaner plane from another federal agency, although he said
he had at least a week to schedule the flight.

"It would definitely be more cost effective for us to borrow somebody
else's resource," he said. "But they're going to have to pay for it,
as well."

Government watchdogs, however, question whether the trip could have
been rescheduled or whether Leonhart could have taken a commercial
flight.

Steve Ellis, the vice president of the nonprofit group Taxpayers for
Common Sense, said that although the flight consumed a small fraction
of the DEA's budget, the charter raised a red flag, especially because
the agency paid an outside company to arrange it.

"It looks bad," Ellis said. "Clearly, the DEA or any federal agency
should be watching their budgets more closely in these difficult times."

Brown said the administrator couldn't have taken a commercial flight
because she and other officials who were traveling with her were under
"specific" threat in Colombia at the time. He wouldn't reveal details
about the threat, saying only that it was of a "sensitive
law-enforcement nature." He added that the threat prompted him to
conclude that "a government aircraft would provide a level of security
not available on a commercial aircraft."

A U.S. official in Colombia, however, said officials there weren't
aware of any threat against Leonhart other than the general insecurity
in the country due to the drug trade. The official wasn't authorized
to speak to journalists and asked to remain anonymous.

L-3, which bills itself as the nation's sixth-largest defense company,
has provided mechanical and transportation services to the DEA for
more than five years. Last year, the DEA estimated that the services
the company provided would amount to $20 million, but it ended up
paying $32 million because of unforeseen special operations, Brown
said.

L-3 spokeswoman Jennifer Barton said the company followed proper
bidding procedures when it set up the flight by requesting bids from
three companies. It received money for arranging the charter as part
of its regular contract, Brown said.

Peregrine Point, a company based in Fort Worth, Texas, submitted the
lowest bid, for $123,745, said Brown and Barton, who refused to reveal
the identities of the other companies that submitted bids.

Peregrine, which employees 30 people and owns a Gulfstream 450 and a
Boeing 737, opened last July. Randy Taylor, the company's general
manager, said his firm wasn't considered a government contractor, but
he declined to answer any other questions, saying that the identities
of other executives and the background of his company are
confidential.

Despite the company's relative inexperience, Brown said he didn't
question the contract because he already was familiar with Peregrine
Point. Before the bid, he said, he had toured the company's hangar,
which is next door to the DEA's aviation division at Fort Worth
Alliance Airport.

"When the bids went out and Peregrine Point was selected, I was
pleased, frankly," Brown said. "I wanted to see how they'd do because
they seemed like a pretty squared-away outfit."

Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense said the DEA might have decided to
reschedule Leonhart's trip or gone to another federal agency to save
money if it hadn't already had a relationship with L-3.

"It's quick and dirty to go to someone you already know," he said.
"But that's not how these things should work."