By Danny Fenster

About 180 federal employees have begun moving into the FBI’s new Tucson-area headquarters, which officially opened on the first of this month, reports Inside Tucson Business. The building, 92,000 square feet, consolidates three scattered locations in the area.

The building is owned and operated by the Kansas-based Quality Group of Companies and was constructed by Sundt Construction. The bureau has a 20-year lease on the building, which has a LEED gold rating and “many upgraded technology systems and state-of-the-art security components,” according to Inside Tucson Business.

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By Allan Lengel

The DEA is continuing to go after “fake pot.”

The agency announced earlier this week on its website that it was extending by six months a ban on five chemicals used to make fake pot, which have been sold at retail outlets and head shops.

The ban, under the DEA’s emergency scheduling authority, makes it illegal to possess or or sell the products.

The initial temporary ban began a year ago. The DEA is moving toward making the ban permanent.

“We continue to address the problems of synthetic drug manufacturing, trafficking, and abuse. Our efforts have clearly shown that these chemicals present an imminent threat to public safety,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart in a statement. “This six month extension is critical and gives us the time necessary to conduct the administrative scheduling process for permanent control.”

The DEA said the smokeable herbal products marketed as being “legal” have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults. The DEA said the products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

The DEA said it has received an increased number of reports from poison control centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products since 2009.

By Allan Lengel

Keith Slotter, who has headed the FBI’s San Diego office since 2007, and who once headed the Sacramento office, is retiring at the end of March to join the private sector.

Slotter, who was an accountant before joining the FBI, has been with the bureau for the past 25 years.

He began his FBI career as a Special Agent of the FBI in June 1987.

He has served in the Buffalo and Miami field offices, and as a Supervisor in the Financial Institution Fraud and Computer Crimes Unit at FBI Headquarters, before serving as a white-collar crime supervisor in Connecticut, the FBI said.

Slotter was Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Cleveland and then managed the Financial Crimes Program, implementing the FBI’s national white-collar crime strategy.

He went on to become Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Sacramento field office and then became the Deputy Assistant Director responsible for all operations at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

In 1997,  Slotter wrote and produced the short film “Shattered Faith – White- Collar Crime in America”, starring Brian Dennehy.  The FBI said he also  co-produced and corroborated on the screenplay for “A Meeting of Minds”, a joint U.S./British drama centered on international corporate espionage. In 2009, Mr. Slotter was the co-creator and Consulting Producer on “Inside the FBI”, a two-hour feature presentation on the Discovery Channel.

Slotter is also the co- creator and host of “San Diego’s Most Wanted – The FBI Files”, featured every Saturday night on the San Diego Fox network.

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