DEA Agents In Puerto Rico Claim Discrimination

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Ten Puerto Rican agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration have filed suit against their employer, claiming they receive less pay and more dangerous assignments than agents hired in the U.S. and sent to the island.

The agents, who were hired in Puerto Rico and have chosen to remain in the U.S. island territory, were reluctant to file suit against the DEA but felt unfairly deprived of recruitment bonuses and incentive pay given to agents hired on the U.S. mainland, their attorney Bamily Lopez Ortiz, said Monday.

Agents who are hired in the U.S. and agree to work in Puerto Rico can receive bonuses equal to 25 percent of their pay because it's considered a high-intensity drug trafficking area, Lopez said. She said some of the Puerto Rican agents may be owed more than $100,000 in lost pay and damages.

Puerto Rican agents more often conduct dangerous field assignments because they have local experience that the U.S. agents lack, she said.

"It is disparate pay and disparate treatment," said Lopez, who filed the suit in federal court in San Juan.

The DEA said in a statement that its officials cannot discuss the suit because it is a pending legal matter but that the agency's pay policies comply with U.S. government regulations.

"The Drug Enforcement Administration is a global organization, and as such, recruits and hires a diverse work force trained to perform the most dangerous assignments world-wide," the statement said.

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Comments

[Sean Porter]

03:23 PM on 02/07/2012

One solution: get rid of the DEA.

[PedroAnimala]

09:48 AM on 02/07/2012

Wouldn't this "incompetence" be directly related to lack of training?
But is not only DEA, most all federal agencies discriminate with the salaries paid to local hires vis a vis the mainland. Then again, those maimi cubans do know how to steal public funds.

[MEEMIC]

11:21 PM on 02/06/2012

Most of the locally hired Puerto Rican DEA Special Agent are incompetent. The reason they bring special agent(s) from the states to Puerto Rico is that management cannot get the PR agents to do the high-level investigations required when doing multi-jurisdiction complex conspiracies. The locally hired agents are allowed to stay in PR, while the rest of the DEA Basic Agent Trainees (BATS) are required to move. The incompetents of the locally hired Puerto Rican agent are common and wide spread knowledge throughout all of DEA. However, a few agents from Puerto Rico would be excellent anywhere they serve. The Caribbean Division is the most underperforming division in DEA on every level. Agents from other divisions are recruited to keep the Caribbean Division afloat! This is simply a fact! I would say about half the locally hired Puerto Rico Agents cannot write or speak English at a high fluency. Many of the agent hired in Puerto Rico would not meet the requirement if they applied in CONUS, again it is simply a fact. I would take it a step further, there are agents working for DEA in Puerto Rico who are more loyal to Puerto Rico than they are to the United States. They would often proclaim that Puerto Rico was their country and not the United States. You do not have believe me, ask any DEA Special Agent who has served in Puerto Rico! I’m no company man however, this lawsuit is a travesty!

[Let PR be free lol]

02:42 AM on 02/07/2012

Very, Very true. I lived there. I worked there. I worked with them. The truth is that PR is the stepchild that the U.S. just can't get rid of. The only real way around it is to hire from CONUS and send your spanish speakers to the island. That's what they're doing in other agencies. The only problem with that is then you have miserable agents who don't want to be there and can't leave for X number of years.

[JacksonHts]

12:17 AM on 02/08/2012

Then you should be vindicated by the lawsuit in the US Federal District Court, if any of what you say is true. Or maybe the ten agents bringing the lawsuit are all competent and could serve anywhere and they have a claim. You don't know that the lawsuit is a travesty because you don't know who the ten plaintiffs are, or the facts of their particular situation.. Rather, you claim God like knowledge of the complete story and basically just defamed every DEA agent who is from Puerto Rico based on your very apparent prejudice. How about Puerto Rico born FBI agents and US Marshalls? Are they also "more loyal to Puerto Rico than to the US?" How about Puerto Rican Assistant US Attorneys? Are they fluent enough in English for you? How about Puerto Ricans serving in the various branches of the military? They have been loyal enough to die for the US in huge numbers since WWI, but maybe they are more loyal to Puerto Rico than the US in your view.. Meanwhile, since you are so highly fluent in English, you could learn to spell incompetence, or to attach your name to your God like opinions.

[MEEMIC]

01:08 PM on 02/08/2012

Don't worry about how I know these things, I promise you its not god like. Some of these agents are good however, the majority are a joke! Since they want to use their spanish language, then they should be sent to the SW Border where at least they could serve their country the United Sttes of America and not Murder Island! I dont know about all the other agencies in Puerto Rco or those serving in the military however, I do know about the DEA in PR.

I can see you are sensitive regarding PR, that tells me that you are probably a Puerto Rican. As usual you get angry and you want to insult or hurt someone, thus the name Murder Island!

Yes, I had few mistake in my post but, it is still better than 99% of Puerto Ricans attempting to speak and write english. I never claimed to be perfect in my writing and speaking English. However I'm certain you used spell check and all types of aids to get the post right. I'm proud that as a fellow PR your fluency in english is high.

I wont leave my name for the same reason you wont leave yours.

[American Pride]

09:25 PM on 02/06/2012

Good luck with you lawsuit Bamily Lopez Ortiz, it might take ten years or more before you get an answer being it the US Gov.

[LostinSocialSpace]

05:57 PM on 02/06/2012

It's Puerto Rico, the only WORST assignment you could have drawn would be Syberia

[MEEMIC]

11:27 PM on 02/06/2012

You are RIGHT it is the worst assigment in any agency you serve, except if you are from Puerto Rico! I believe afghanistan would be a step up.