Special Report: Female Agents In The DEA

Step by step, Drug Enforcement Administration agents inch their way toward a mobile home trailer housing a meth lab.

Equipped with magazine cartridges, handcuffs,and batons, the agents draw their guns and identify their threats.

One of the agents shouts, “we have a police search warrant!” before the agents enter the trailer as part of a training exercise.

What makes these agents different is they are women. It’s a tough job – busting drug rings and cracking down on cartels – all while maintaining a manicure.

Out of about 5,000 Drug Enforcement Administration special agents, almost 490 are women.

Even though they are greatly outnumbered by their male counterparts female agents in the Borderland see their gender as an advantage.

DEA agents run drills both outside and inside mock trailers at least four times a year. The scenario is meant to look as real as possible, with furniture on the floor and household items scattered all over the place.

“There’s a certain level of anxiety to begin with,” a female DEA agent told ABC-7. “You’re always scared – at least I am.”

Part of their job means dealing with dangerous people.

“We deal with drug traffickers,” a second female DEA agent told ABC-7. “we deal with very powerful people.”

Neither agent wanted to be identified because of the danger that could follow if their identities were learned by criminals.

“My acquaintances, friends don’t really know what I do,” the second agent said.

Keeping secrets is a big part of these women’s worlds.

“I’ve picked up money, I’ve delivered money, I’ve bought ecstasy, I’ve bought coke,” the first agent said.

Deception also is a part of their worlds.

“Initially, if you look at me or any of us females, most of us don’t look like cops so we can play it off in any which way we want to, you know,” the first agent said. “I can say I’m a nurse and you would believe me.”

Even though they believe they are held to the same standard in a male-dominated agency, these women said sometimes they’re the ones with the advantage.

“The whole female thing,” the first agent said. “The blush, the mascara, you know. That helps us and that’s another thing that keeps us safe out on the street.”

And that’s why delicate gold nails handle deadly brass bullets.

“Las unas (fingernails),” an agent said. “I know, they’re all broken.”

The job is hard on their bodies because of the heavy equipment they have to wear and carry. They’re also hard on themselves as they aim for success because there’s a lot at stake.

One slip-up, “Can endanger our parents, that can endanger our child,” the first agent said.

And a brutal drug war just across the Rio Grande means the agents are even more concerned about their safety.

In the Borderland, close to a dozen women have stepped up and joined the agency

“It’s a type of camaraderie that’s necessary, that if you didn’t have it, we wouldn’t be able to take down the cartels that we target every day,” DEA spokeswoman Diana Apodaca said.

“I love the opportunity to make a difference in my community,” the first agent said.

Balancing a life of getting drugs off the streets and raising families can be tough.

“It’s chaotic!” the second agent said. “I carry two phones all the time, a personal phone, a work phone and they’re constantly both ringing … (with) demands here, demands there.”

The DEA is looking to add more women to its ranks. Go to the DEA’s Website if you are interested in becoming a DEA agent.