
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990                   TAG: 9003142544
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

AUDIT FINDS DEA VIOLATED MANY PROCUREMENT RULES

The Drug Enforcement Administration has repeatedly violated federal procurement rules by awarding no-bid contracts, overpaying suppliers and other irregularities that cost the government hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an audit by the Justice Department inspector general's office.

The audit, prepared for Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, found irregularities and waste in a wide variety of DEA contracts including the purchase of satellite communications radios, data encryption devices, special breathing apparatus and other high-tech equipment being used in the drug war.

In one case, DEA paid a contractor $22,500 for three video cameras being installed on aircraft turrets - products the audit concludes should have cost less than one-third that amount, or $7,230.

The report also concluded DEA frequently ignored federal regulations requiring competitive bidding, failed to award contracts in a timely fashion and made "substantial omissions and errors" in reporting procurement information to the Justice Department.

DEA management "had not established and implemented adequate internal controls to protect the interest of the government," according to the report by acting inspector general Tony Moscato.

DEA spokesman Conn Dougherty said the agency will have no comment on the report until it completes formal, written responses due at the end of this month. But David Runkel, spokesman for Thornburgh, said "there has been a great deal of discussion with people at DEA" about the report and that the agency will take steps to ensure the irregularities do not reoccur.

Nevertheless, the report raised new congressional concerns about DEA's management practices at a time the agency is slated to receive hefty budget increases. As part of the Bush administration's escalation of the anti-drug effort, DEA's budget is to jump to $700 million next year, a 27 percent increase.

As part of the audit, the inspector general's office reviewed over $25 million in DEA contracts and purchase orders between fiscal 1986 and the first three months of fiscal year 1989, which began Oct. 1, 1988. It identifies at least $567,000 in what it calls "unnecessary costs" on four contracts, including paying $279,000 too much for radio maintenance and $233,232 too much for data encryption equipment.

by CNB