DEA Under Fire for Fake Account on Facebook

When a woman in New York was arrested for possession and intent to traffic cocaine by the DEA, she subsequently entered a guilty plea and as part of her agreement, stated that she had been part of a trafficking ring. Her agreement also allowed agents to access the information her cell phone contained. One DEA agent got a clever idea. He used the photos, contacts, and other information stored on her phone to create a false Facebook account in her name and proceeded to use it to connect with her friends and acquaintances in an effort to draw out her co-conspirators.

Now, the agency faces a lawsuit over the account. Officials originally defended the creation of the account, but now say they are reviewing their policies on the matter. The true heart of this matter seems to center on the interaction between old rules and policies and new and evolving technology.

The woman says she felt truly endangered by the account in which she had no part, being afraid of associates thinking she had been performing all the entrapping communication herself for the agency.

Facebook representatives would not issue a comment concerning the incident, which seems to violate their policy of disallowing any account not made by the person the account claims to belong to.