Drug Trafficking & Possession Cases Federal Court Prosecutions

An Overview of Federal Prosecutions for Title 21, U.S. Code, §841 & §846

by John Teakell Attorney-At-Law Dallas, Texas

I. Background/Overview

In exchange for money, and typically cash money, referred to in Indictments. Traditionally, federal drug trafficking, and drug possession, cases have been cases that involved large quantities, or very large, significant quantities of the controlled substance (illegal “drug”) that was being investigated and/or seized. This included, for example, kilograms (“kilos”) of cocaine in powder form, and many pounds or even kilos of marijuana. Today, the focus of federal investigations of drug activities still concerns very significant amounts of the drug that is the subject of the investigation, but also federal investigations target organized groups of persons, regardless of how loosely connected the group of persons appear to the federal investigators and prosecutors.

Very often in the federal system, the United States Attorney’s Office (federal prosecutors) will seek Indictments of a group of persons whose activities may be somewhat related or at least be centered around a purported common goal – that is, to move controlled substances to a designated location or to specifically named persons. Usually, this transferring, or “distributing” drugs is accomplished as “currency or U.S. currency.” Universally in drug trafficking investigations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek Indictments charging that a conspiracy existed in an effort to distribute drugs or to at least possess with intent to distribute drugs. Defendants in federal Indictments are charged pursuant to Title 21, U.S. Code, §841, which alleges drug possession, possession with intent to distribute, or drug trafficking (distribution), and also pursuant to Title 21, U.S. Code, §846, conspiracy.

II. CONSPIRACY

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