Cheri Oz
Cheri Oz was appointed as the Assistant Administrator (AA) of the Diversion Control Division in November 2025. In this role, AA Oz serves as the principal advisor to the DEA Administrator on all matters pertaining to the regulation and coordination of programs associated with safeguarding the controlled prescription drug (CPD) and listed chemical supply chain. Her responsibilities include authorizing the handling of CPDs and listed chemicals for 2.2 million registrants; coordinating major pharmaceutical and chemical diversion investigations; drafting and promulgating regulations; establishing drug production quotas; and conducting liaison and outreach with industry, intergovernmental, and law enforcement partners.
In 1996, AA Oz began her law enforcement career with the Phoenix Police Department as a Patrol Officer and Field Training Officer. Later, she made Detective and was assigned to the Organized Crime Bureau and Vice Enforcement Unit. In 2002, AA Oz joined the ranks of DEA as a Special Agent.
Upon graduating from the DEA Academy in Quantico, Virginia, AA Oz was assigned to the Los Angeles Field Division. Her experience as a local police officer in a major metropolitan area proved instrumental in her success as she went from a general enforcement group to the Mobile Enforcement Team (commonly referred to as the MET Team) which focused on the most dangerous local street gangs. She then transferred to the Los Angeles International Airport Narcotics Task Force where she focused on interdicting couriers and seizing large shipments of currency and drugs. Finally, she went to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Group where she coordinated high profile domestic and international complex conspiracy investigations.
In 2011, AA Oz received her first promotion and physical transfer within DEA to become a Group Supervisor of a HIDTA Team in the Miami Field Division. Miami gave her the venue and the canvas to elevate her leadership traits, and the opportunity to mentor DEA’s future leaders. Enforcing drug laws takes creativity and persistence, but supervising drug investigators takes finesse. Guiding, coaching, mentoring and often simply listening were the skillsets she developed while supervising and motivating those around her. AA Oz went on to supervise Tactical Diversion groups which investigate the people responsible for moving billions of legitimate pharmaceutical pills onto the streets, contributing to America’s opioid crisis.
In 2017, AA Oz transferred to DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, where she gained exposure to the many foreign and domestic facets of the agency. AA Oz served as a Staff Coordinator in the Office of Operations Management Data and Accountability Section. There, she learned to step back and see the big picture and the direction of the agency as she focused on the Threat Enforcement Prioritization Process contributing to identifying and prioritizing drugs threats to American communities.
AA Oz promoted to Section Chief of DEA’s Human Resources Division and managed DEA’s Special Agent Recruitment and Hiring Program. AA Oz revamped how agents are hired. She personally called hundreds of agents to get feedback on how to improve the hiring process. She led the charge in streamlining paperwork and quietly changed policy. Her tenacity, insight, and innovation earned her the DEA Administrator’s Award in 2018 for innovation in recruiting and improvement in DEA’s hiring practices.
In 2019, AA Oz transferred to the Seattle Field Division as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge where she supervised Seattle Enforcement Groups, Tacoma Enforcement Groups, the Airport Group, the Security Group, and Technical Operations. In one year, she was promoted again and headed back where she began: the Phoenix Field Division.
In March 2020, she assumed leadership of the Phoenix Field Division as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC), overseeing seven offices throughout Arizona and guiding one of the agency’s highest-tempo operational environments. AA Oz’s wide breadth of experience and assignments along with her ability to organize complex, long-term operations involving state, local, federal, and foreign agencies made her the perfect choice for leading a division that sits as a chokepoint for the illegal drugs coming into the U.S. every day. Being selected as the SAC was a promotion, a homecoming, and her greatest set of challenges yet to come. While implementing her vision for the division, she faced the complications of COVID-19 while completing a scheduled move of hundreds of employees to a new location with virtually no impact on enforcement and investigative activities. In October 2021, the most violent DEA shooting in more than a decade devastated the Phoenix Field Division. AA Oz tendered healing and inspiration to her team of over 400 people who were reeling from the tragedy. While serving as the Phoenix Field Division SAC, she fastidiously led the division in pursuing criminals, curbing drug trafficking, and protecting public safety.
Cheri Oz has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology and Law Studies with a double minor in Psychology and Sociology from Marquette University, a Master’s degree in Education and Leadership from Northern Arizona University, and an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is the recipient of numerous awards throughout her career from both DEA and partner agencies.