Trump's Justice Department Fires Head of Organized Crime Drug Task Force

On March 8, 2025, the Justice Department fired Adam Cohen, head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), in a move ordered by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former defense attorney for Trump who had just been confirmed to his position. The firing came roughly 18 hours after a Blanche memo, which Cohen had helped draft, announced the task force would take on a new lead role in immigration enforcement.

OCDETF coordinates federal prosecutors, the DEA, and local law enforcement on investigations into fentanyl trafficking, money laundering, and cartel-linked organized crime crossing state and international borders. Cohen called the dismissal a "shock" in a public post, noting that combating organized crime had traditionally been treated as apolitical work.

Critics, including career prosecutors, said the abrupt removal risked disrupting ongoing investigations and reflected a broader pattern of leadership turnover tied to political alignment rather than performance. The department has not publicly detailed the specific reasoning beyond calling it a personnel decision.