Federal Narcotics and Financial Crime Enforcement

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has demanded an unredacted copy of the DEA’s 2015 “Chain Reaction” memo by March 13, saying the OCDETF probe indicates “ample evidence” that Jeffrey Epstein and 14 associates engaged in heavy drug trafficking, money laundering and prostitution as part of a cross‑border conspiracy in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York City. Wyden argues DOJ redactions go beyond what the Epstein Files Transparency Act permits—shielding alleged co‑conspirators rather than victims—and asks the DEA to explain why no drug‑trafficking or financial‑crime charges were brought and whether the DEA and DOJ during the first Trump administration moved to terminate the investigation to protect pedophiles.