Andrew Zajac
Drug Enforcement Administration administrator Karen Tandy announced her retirement today to take a senior position with Motorola.
As DEA head, Tandy was a key chieftain in the war on drugs (remember that?). Post-9-11, her agency was shoved out of the headlines by the war on terror, despite strong efforts to highlight linkage between the two.
In 2003, the DEA assembled a traveling exhibit titled Target America: Traffickers, Terrorists, and You — funded in part by Motorola.
In a press release announcing the opening of the exhibit, Tandy declared that,”Drug money is the slush fund of mass murder.”
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DEA has boasted of racking up big numbers in drug eradication in Afghanistan, though recent UN reports indicate the trade in opium and heroin is thriving. At Schaumburg-based Motorola, Tandy will be Senior Vice President of the company’s Global Government Relations and Public Policy Division, serving as the main public policy spokesperson on global telecom, trade, regulation, spectrum allocation, and country relations.
Tandy also will be responsible for drumming up business in defense and law enforcement.
Still no word on exactly when she will leave DEA or who her successor will be.
DEA issued this announcement of Tandy’s departure: Download file