U.S. Code » Title 21 » Chapter CHAPTER 13— DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT › Part Part E— Administrative and Enforcement Provisions

21 U.S.C. § 878

Powers of enforcement personnel

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(a) Any officer or employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration or any State, tribal, or local law enforcement officer designated by the Attorney General may—(1) carry firearms;(2) execute and serve search warrants, arrest warrants, administrative inspection warrants, subpenas, and summonses issued under the authority of the United States;(3) make arrests without warrant (A) for any offense against the United States committed in his presence, or (B) for any felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States, if he has probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony;(4) make seizures of property pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter; and(5) perform such other law enforcement duties as the Attorney General may designate.(b) State and local law enforcement officers performing functions under this section shall not be deemed Federal employees and shall not be subject to provisions of law relating to Federal employees, except that such officers shall be subject to section 3374(c) of title 5.(Pub. L. 91–513, title II, § 508, Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1273; Pub. L. 96–132, § 16(b), Nov. 30, 1979, 93 Stat. 1049; Pub. L. 99–570, title I, § 1869, Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–55; Pub. L. 99–646, § 86, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3620; Pub. L. 111–211, title II, § 232(d), July 29, 2010, 124 Stat. 2278.)Editorial NotesAmendments

2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–211 inserted “, tribal,” after “State” in introductory provisions.

1986—Pub. L. 99–570 and Pub. L. 99–646 amended section substantially identically designating existing provisions as subsec. (a) and adding subsec. (b), with the exception of the amendment of subsec. (a) for which Pub. L. 99–570 directed the insertion of “or (with respect to offenses under this subchapter or subchapter II of this chapter) any State or local law enforcement officer” and Pub. L. 99–646 directed the insertion of “or any State or local law enforcement officer”, the latter of which was executed to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

1979—Pub. L. 96–132 substituted “Drug Enforcement Administration” for “Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs”.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 80 cases (8 in the last 5 years), 1971–2025 · leading case: Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004).
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Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004). · cites it 6× “It argues that the arrest could not have been tortious, because it was authorized by 21 U. S. C. § 878 , setting out the arrest authority of the DEA, and it says that in any event the liability asserted here falls within the FTCA exception to waiver of sovereign immunity for…”
Tyron Brown v. Lee Lucas, 753 F.3d 606 (6th Cir. 2014). · cites it 4× “Jamaal Ansari was a police officer with the City of Cleveland Police Department detailed to the DEA’s Cleveland office and deputized as a DEA Task Force Officer pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 878 during part of the Mansfield Investigation.”
United States v. Jo Ann Williams, 622 F.2d 830 (5th Cir. 1980). · cites it 6× “Arrest Powers Williams grounds her argument that her arrest was invalid on 21 U.S.C. § 878 (3), which describes the power of DEA agents to make warrantless arrests as follows: Any officer or employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration designated by the Attorney General may—…”
Safe Streets All. v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “at 24 (citing 21 U.S.C. § 878 ), none of the Law Enforcement Officers allege that they have been deputized by the Attorney General to enforce § 903 against Colorado, or to enforce the CSA in any other respect.”
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (2001). · cites it 2× “§ 1589a(3) (same, for customs officers); 21 U. S. C. § 878 (a)(3) (same, for Drug Enforcement Administration agents); 25 U.”
Alvarez-Machain v. United States, 331 F.3d 604 (9th Cir. 2003). · cites it 12× “28 Subsection 878(a)(3) of that provision authorizes DEA agents to make warrantless arrests on probable cause for suspected felony violations.”
Texas v. Kleinert, 855 F.3d 305 (5th Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “Third, the State challenges the district court’s finding that federal law authorized Kleinert to arrest Jackson because, according to the State, Kleinert lacked probable cause of criminal activity. Importantly, the State concedes that federal law authorized Kleinert, as a…”
United States v. Gloria Santa, A.K.A. Gloria Santa-Betancur, 236 F.3d 662 (11th Cir. 2001). · cites it 2× “21 U.S.C. § 878 provides that: (a) Any officer or employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration or any State or local law enforcement officer designated by the Attorney General may— (3) make arrests without warrant (A) for any offense against the United States committed in his…”
Nadine Pellegrino v. TSA, 937 F.3d 164 (3rd Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “”7 Under the canon noscitur a sociis, Congress’s listing of “execute searches” alongside “seize evidence” and “make arrests”—three actions routinely listed in tandem to describe police powers, see, e.”
United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411 (1975). · cites it 2× “1273 , 21 U. S. C. § 878 ; the Secret Service, 18 U.”
United States v. Jo Ann Williams, 594 F.2d 86 (5th Cir. 1979). · cites it 5× “II The government’s position on this appeal is that Agent Markonni’s warrant-less arrest was authorized by 21 U.S.C. § 878 (3) (1976) which provides: Any officer or employee of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drug designated by the Attorney General may— (3) make arrests…”
United States v. Luna, 649 F.3d 91 (1st Cir. 2011). · cites it 2× “According to his Deputation Statement, he was authorized to exercise *96 “the powers of enforcement personnel set forth in [ 21 U.S.C. § 878 ],” and thus was permitted to (1) carry firearms; (2) execute and serve search warrants, arrest warrants, administrative inspection…”
Show all 80 citing cases →
— 21 U.S.C. § 878(2) — 1 case
United States v. Cox, 462 F.2d 1293 (8th Cir. 1972).
— 21 U.S.C. § 878(3) — 1 case
United States v. Blair, 366 F. Supp. 1036 (S.D.N.Y. 1973).
— 21 U.S.C. § 878(5) — 1 case
United States v. Richard Anthony Badolato, Dean Quarnstrom, & Richard Vaughn, 701 F.2d 915 (11th Cir. 1983).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.