FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         DAG
FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1996                              (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
       DEA AGENT NAMED DIRECTOR OF DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Richard L. Ca¤as, a career agent in the
Drug Enforcement Administration, has been named Director of the
National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the
Department of Justice announced today.
     Since January 1995, Ca¤as, 55, has been the Special Agent in
Charge of the DEA's Phoenix, Arizona, Division where he managed
240 employees, including 90 special agents, in five districts.
     Before the Phoenix position, Ca¤as served as a special
assistant in the Central Intelligence Agency.  In that post, he
developed and coordinated intelligence policies and programs to
counter illegal narcotic operations in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
     Prior to that, Ca¤as worked for four years at the National
Security Council, where he served as an advisor to the President
on counterterrorism and counternarcotics matters. 
     Ca¤as began his law enforcement career as a police officer
and detective on the Salinas, California, police force in 1964
before joining the DEA in 1972.  He is a graduate of San Jose
State University.
     The NDIC, which was established in 1991, produces narcotics
intelligence reports based on information from law enforcement
and national security agencies.  It is staffed by Department of
Justice law enforcement agencies, the FBI and DEA, and the CIA
and departments of Defense, Treasury and Transportation.
     Ca¤as is the first independent director of the NDIC. 
Previously, the Director's position has been filled by detailees
from law enforcement agencies.
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