The Office of National Narcotics Intelligence (ONNI) was a federal

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 law enforcement agency

Law enforcement agency

In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

 under the Justice Department

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

 that dealt clandestinely

Clandestine operation

A clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed.The United States Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines "clandestine operation" as "An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental...

 in the domestic illegal drugs trade. ONNI was founded in August 1972 under order of President Richard M. Nixon. The agency was headed by former FBI intelligence chief William C. Sullivan

William C. Sullivan

William Cornelius Sullivan was former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence operations....

 until ONNI was consolidated into the newly created Drug Enforcement Administration

Drug Enforcement Administration

The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...

 in July 1973 (along with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs

Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs

The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was a predecessor agency of the Drug Enforcement Administration . It was formed as a subsidiary of the United States Department of Justice in 1968, combining the Bureau of Narcotics and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous...

, the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement

Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement

The Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement was a Justice Department agency that Richard Nixon established in January 1972, headed by Myles Ambrose. The office was chiefly a tool for the federal government to assist local government in enforcing drug laws and oblige drug addicts to undergo...

, some Customs Intelligence Offices

Customs

Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...

, and some of the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

).

Sources

• Agency of Fear by Edward J. Epstein
• The Great Heroin Coup - Drugs, Intelligence, & International Fascism by Henrik Kruger