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47-675: The FBN was established on June 14, 1930, consolidating the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board and the Bureau of Prohibition (BOI) Narcotic Division . These preceding bureaus were established to assume enforcement responsibilities assigned to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 and the Jones – Miller Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act of 1922. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics

94-709: A Chinese opium smuggling ring called the Hip Sing Tong in Seattle . In 1938, he led the FBN effort to wrap up Hip Sing Tong operations across the country, where the FBN sent 30 members of the organization to federal prison. In 1938, he shot New York City drug dealer Albert "Tuffy" Jackson in the head and abdomen while working undercover. When the United States declared war on Germany in World War II , White

141-575: A Senate subcommittee in 1959, he advocated for greater cooperation with Mexican authorities and harsher penalties for drug offenders. White allegedly planted evidence in the jazz singer Billie Holiday 's hotel room at the Mark Twin Hotel in San Francisco, and then had her arrested for possession. Holiday represented herself in her criminal trial, "The United States of America versus Billie Holiday." In 1959, when Holiday collapsed and

188-530: A hospital bed and surrounded by FBN agents. The agents did not allow her to see family or friends, and denied her doctors from administering methodone. When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, William J. Donovan , Millard Preston Goodfellow , and David K. E. Bruce requested a list of names from Commissioner Anslinger to use in the effort against the Axis powers in their new wartime intelligence agency - what

235-420: A scandal that rocked him. In February 1930, after the investigation was concluded, a grand jury found no criminal impairment of Narcotics Division activities, but the flak was too much for the government. In March 1930, Nutt was demoted to Field Supervisor. In September, his duties were passed on to Harry J. Anslinger , the future Commissioner of the FBN. Source: Harry J. Anslinger was the "personification of

282-631: Is quoted as calling this the "school of mayhem and murder." In the Spring of that year, White became one of the cadre of instructors at the COI schoolhouses in Washington, D.C. under the command of his FBN Supervisor and COI Training Director Garland H. Williams , where he taught counterintelligence to hundreds of would-be and hopeful undercover operatives and guerrilla warfighters. Those operatives and operators who were successful were then deployed all around

329-416: Is similar to the phrase " just say no ." He is also quoted as saying: "We intend to get the killer-pushers and their willing customers out of selling and buying drugs... The answer to the problem is simple—get rid of drugs, pushers and users. Period." This approach treated all users equally, and did not differentiate casual usage from clinically defined addiction. According to Anslinger, all usage of narcotics

376-722: The Office of Strategic Services on the fundamentals of counterespionage before they were deployed on missions in Europe, Asia, and Africa. He was also a federal observer for the controversial narcotics experiments by the Central Intelligence Agency as part of MK-ULTRA and Midnight Climax . In later life, he served as the chief of the Stinson Beach Fire Department. White was born in 1908 in Los Angeles, California . In 1928, at

423-650: The Unione Corse . These drugs were shipped to the USA through Cuba. FBN agents were routinely sent to Cuba during the 50s, and FBN undercover operative Jacques Voignier was stationed in Cuba with the dual assignment to gather information for the CIA on an unknown Cuban operator named Fidel Castro. FBN agents immediately resumed to full-time status at the end of the war, and Anslinger gave Garland H. Williams and George Hunter White

470-650: The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce , or the "Kefauver Committee" to investigate organized crime. President Truman appointed White to investigate corruption in the government. In 1954, White was summoned to investigate corruption within the Houston Police Department . During a conversation with a detective of this department, White shot and killed

517-524: The University of California Press on the enumerated powers of the agency: "It should be borne in mind that the Bureau are confined to a rather narrow range of specifically enumerated drugs. These are opium ... alkaloids and derivatives of opium (including such products as morphine , heroin , codine, dilaudid ), and semisynthetic derivatives of opium ... wholly synthetic substances... opiates ...

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564-418: The coca leaf and its derivatives ( cocaine )... marihuana ... cannabis ... The Federal Bureau of Narcotics does not have responsibilities in connection with many other chemicals generally described as dangerous drugs such as... barbiturates , amphetamines , tranquilizers ... hallucinogens ..." In this article, Harney defined marijuana as being the ground substance of the plant called cannabis. Marijuana

611-425: The 1973 film Lucky Luciano . The FBN over time established several offices overseas in; Other hotspots of international narcotics smuggling also maintained offices. These internationally deployed special agents (never totaling more than 17 at one time) cooperated with local drug enforcement agencies in gathering intelligence on smugglers and also made undercover busts locally. The work against heroin and opium

658-555: The 4th Amendment rights of Bivens, through the illegal search and seizure of drugs without a warrant. Federal Narcotics Control Board The Federal Narcotics Control Board (FNCB) was a Prohibition era senior level law enforcement -related organization established by the United States Congress as part of the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act on 26 May 1922. The Board was composed of

705-671: The Chicago mob boss that the OSS and the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had previously depended on to guarantee safety of shipbuilding in Chicago and New York. ONI and OSS during the war had also used Luciano as an asset to ensure protection of American forces by the Italian criminal underworld as they invaded the country and advanced northward against the Germans. Lucky Luciano had still been running his crime family from behind bars, but he

752-517: The FBN Director of Midnight Climax, White was assigned custodianship of U.S. government employee Frank Olson , who was a subject of the experiments. White entrusted supervision of Olson to his aide, Jacques Voignier . Olson committed suicide at a New York City hotel while in custody of Voignier and Frank Spirito. Olson's death opened public scrutiny into the MKUltra program. White's codename

799-548: The FBN until it was merged in 1968 with the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control , an agency of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to form the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs , an agency of the United States Department of Justice and a predecessor agency of the current Drug Enforcement Administration , which was established in 1973. In Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents , the FBN was sued for violating

846-455: The Germans. Lucky Luciano had still been running his mob from behind bars, but the US granted him reduced sentence in 1945 for "wartime services to the country." Williams charged that three months after Luciano's return [to Italy] from Cuba in 1947, the first large shipment of heroin, worth $ 250,000, was smuggled into the United States. -- The Luciano Story In 1950, special agent Charles Siragusa

893-650: The Secretaries of State , Treasury , and Commerce . The duties of the board were; The duties of the board were further amended; Congressional leadership in narcotics control was handled by Steven G. Porter , chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs . The duties of the board were transferred to the Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics on 14 June 1930. Each of

940-462: The United States government's efforts at creating a mind control drug, which began during World War II and lasted into the 1960's. One of the experiments in which he participated was Operation Midnight Climax . In this operation, CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb and White gave experimental drugs such as LSD to unknowing American citizens in New York and San Francisco to observe their behavior. As

987-688: The age of twenty, White graduated from Oregon State College . After graduating, White worked as a journalist and was a police reporter for the San Francisco Bulletin and the Call-Bulletin . After moving to Los Angeles, he covered several narcotics trials for newspapers there. In 1933, White joined the United States Border Patrol along the US-Mexico border, his first assignment as a federal officer of

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1034-639: The antinarcotic regime," and ran the bureau for the majority of its existence. He had been the Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Prohibition and took over the Bureau's Narcotic Division in 1929. With the establishment of the FBN a year later, Anslinger was appointed the first Narcotics Commissioner of the United States by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon . Under Anslinger, the FBN lobbied for harsh penalties for drug usage. He had little regard for addicts, saying once: "The best cure for addiction? Never let it happen." This problematic slogan

1081-499: The assignment to track down and bring to justice Lucky Luciano - the Italian Chicago mob boss that the OSS and the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had heavily depended on to guarantee safety of shipbuilding in Chicago and New York. ONI and OSS during the war had also used Luciano as an asset to ensure protection of American forces by the Italian criminal underworld as they invaded the country and advanced northward against

1128-559: The board, and signing permits on behalf of the board. Nutt, in his dual function as Deputy Commissioner of the Narcotics Division of the Prohibition Bureau , was also responsible for issuing all import licenses for opium and other drugs. When Nutt was removed from his position due to the scandal surrounding his son's association with the gangster Arnold Rothstein , his position and all duties were transferred to

1175-420: The cause of convicted school teacher Robert Enzensperger, who had been falsely accused of transporting marijuana. His investigation resulted in the teacher's release and exoneration. That same year, he led a heroin seizure operation in San Francisco, which resulted in the imprisonment of Rinaldo (Red) Ferrari for narcotics trafficking. White continued to voice his opposition to marijuana use. Testifying before

1222-647: The closet and shot the Japanese soldier dead. In 1946, White was responsible for apprehending and shutting down the criminal organization of Arthur Zweier in Mexico. White received a promotion to the rank of FBN District Supervisor, running offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. White then was given the assignment by Anslinger to join Garland H. Williams to bring to justice Lucky Luciano -

1269-469: The course of several months to years. These experiments would eventually become a part of Operation Midnight Climax , part of the umbrella MKUltra program, managed by FBN special agent George Hunter White and CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb . These experiments lasted into the 1960s, and are allegedly responsible for the death of Frank Olson . In 1934, an FBN field report indicated that heroin in New York

1316-458: The detective. This investigation also led to a significant shake-up, resulting in the dismissal of Police Chief Morrison, who was revealed to be a drug addict. This prompted a comprehensive restructuring of the entire department. In 1955, in San Francisco, White conducted a sting operation that exposed state narcotics agent Braumoeller for selling drugs seized in raids to known criminals, leading to Braumoeller's arrest. In 1956, White championed

1363-549: The law. In 1934, White joined the Federal Bureau of Narcotics . In this role, he worked with agents like Garland H. Williams under the direction of Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger to pursue mob bosses and drug dealers, and infiltrate criminal organizations. He remained an FBN special agent throughout the rest of his federal service - while he was in the Army, at OSS, and the CIA, he was still operating as an FBN agent, sending regular reports to Anslinger. In 1936, he infiltrated

1410-643: The new acting Commissioner of Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger . When the Federal Narcotics Control Board was dissolved, and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was established a month later, all the duties and responsibilities of the Board were passed to the Commissioner of Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger . This United States law enforcement agency article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . George Hunter White George Hunter White (June 22, 1908 – October 23, 1975)

1457-402: The spring of that year, White became one of the cadre of instructors at the COI schoolhouses in Washington, D.C. under the command of his FBN Supervisor and COI Training Director Garland H. Williams , where he taught counterintelligence to hundreds of would-be and hopeful undercover operatives and guerrilla warfighters. Those operatives and operators who were successful were then deployed around

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1504-551: The three departments appointed a representative to the board's Advisory Committee. This committee had no powers, and functioned solely to facilitate the board. The leadership of the board was composed of the Secretary of State , the Secretary of the Treasury , and the Secretary of Commerce . Levi Nutt was appointed by the members to be Secretary of the Board, with the vested powers of conducting correspondence on behalf of

1551-662: The world to fight the Axis powers. Later in the war, White was deployed to Asia and the Pacific to fight the Imperial Japanese as an undercover agent. One night, while he was in Calcutta, India, White was hiding in the closet of a hotel room where he was observing a clandestine meeting between a Japanese soldier and a US Army soldier. The Japanese soldier pulled a knife on the American soldier, and White popped out of

1598-560: The world to fight the Axis powers. Another effort that OSS and the FBN undertook during the war was the pursuit of the Nazi "truth drug," or "T drug," and the two agencies collaborated in experiments on unwitting American citizens to see the effects of certain narcotics. These experiments primarily targeted gangsters, pimps, prostitutes, and other "undesirable" classes of American citizens. FBN agents would dose their targets with narcotics against their knowledge, and document what would happen over

1645-561: Was a criminal act. The FBN is credited for criminalizing drugs such as marijuana with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 , as well as strengthening the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 . Even so, the main focus of the FBN was fighting opium and heroin smuggling. One instance against opium was the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 . Malachi Harney , Assistant Commissioner of the FBN, wrote in an article for

1692-456: Was an American federal agent. He was a Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) investigator, undercover Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative, World War II veteran, and one of the men responsible for the capture of Lucky Luciano . While working for the Commissioner of the FBN, Harry J. Anslinger , White travelled around the world in pursuit of drug dealers and crime lords. During World War II , he trained undercover Allied operatives for

1739-471: Was assigned to take over the hunt for Luciano from White and Williams. The hunt for Luciano would dominate the next decade of his life. On one particular occasion, Luciano was asked by a group of reporters what he would like for Christmas. His response was "Siragusa in a ton of cement!" Luciano died in Naples from a heart attack before Siragusa could bring a case against him. Siragusa later starred as himself in

1786-561: Was at that time called the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), the direct precursor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and what would eventually become the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). FBN special agents that were loaned to special duty at COI/OSS include George Hunter White and Garland H. Williams , among others. These men were sent to attend training at a British Special Operations Executive training camp outside of Toronto, Canada, called Camp X . White

1833-674: Was being distributed from Corsica . The "connection" refers to the relationship between the Corsican Brotherhood and the Sicilian Mafia . The FBN was the major American federal law enforcement agency responsible for uncovering the networks of the French Connection . By the 1950s and 1960s, over 80 percent of all heroin consumed in the United States was originated in Southern France, distributed by

1880-656: Was granted a reduced sentence in 1945 for "wartime services to the country." Williams charged that three months after Luciano's return [to Italy] from Cuba in 1947, the first large shipment of heroin, worth $ 250,000, was smuggled into the United States. White also investigated other branches of the Italian Mafia, Iranian and Middle Eastern crime families, the French Connection in Marseilles, and other European drug smuggling networks. In 1948, White

1927-460: Was however hamstrung by US foreign policy considerations: during the Vietnam War for instance great importance was placed on investigating minor Vietnamese smugglers that could be connected to the resistance while investigations of large scale smugglers from the US ally Thailand were left unfinished. Anslinger retired in 1962 and was succeeded by Henry Giordano , who was the commissioner of

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1974-660: Was made the District Supervisor of the San Francisco FBN office. Also in 1948, White helped police capture a narcotics trafficker, Lucien Santoni in France. In Rome, he compiled evidence against the heroin ring of Marcello Enzi. In May 1948, White went undercover and aided Turkish police in capturing smugglers led by Severt Dalgakiran, and in the seizure of heroin plants. In 1949, White worked for U.S. Senators Estes Kefauver and Herbert O'Conor , and

2021-601: Was not originally intended by the agency as a word to refer to the cannabis plant. FBN Special Agent George Hunter White arrested jazz singer Billie Holiday at the Mark Twin Hotel in San Francisco . At a conference of the DEA in 2014, historian John C. McWilliams presented the evidence that White consumed most of the narcotics he was pursuing. He was most likely high when he arrested Holiday for possession. Years later, in 1959, Holiday died in police custody, handcuffed to

2068-570: Was one of a dozen COI men of the Special Operations Branch (SO) to attend training at a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) training camp outside of Toronto, Canada, called Camp X . There, he was trained in British methods of sabotage, reconnaissance, guerrilla warfare, underwater and amphibious assault, trailing suspects, and managing networks. White is quoted as calling this the "school of mayhem and murder." In

2115-461: Was one person on a list of names that Anslinger sent to William J. Donovan , Millard Preston Goodfellow , and David K. E. Bruce to use in the effort against the Axis powers in their new intelligence agency - what was at that time called the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), the direct precursor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and what would eventually become the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In January 1942, White

2162-449: Was rushed to the hospital, doctors informed her that her continued use of heroin was causing her health to decline. The FBN arrived and claimed they found more narcotics in her possession. Doctors attempted to detox her with methadone, but the FBN interrupted the process; they also refused to let her see a lawyer. She died on the hospital bed that she was handcuffed to. White's other activities have been overshadowed by his involvement in

2209-517: Was the brainchild of Colonel Levi G. Nutt , who had for two decades been the head of the Bureau of Prohibition Narcotics Division . In June of 1930, Nutt was appointed by President Hoover to be the first Commissioner of Narcotics. He was a registered pharmacist, and led the Division to the arrest of tens of thousands of drug addicts and dealers in the Prohibition era . However, Nutt was hit with

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