Wade R. Shannon currently serves as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Division where he oversees all enforcement operations, drug diversion, regulatory investigations, and administrative operations from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.

Mr. Shannon in a native of Los Angeles, California.  He graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1987.  In 1990, Mr. Shannon began his law enforcement career as a Police Officer with the Greensboro Police Department.  In 1991, Mr. Shannon joined the United Nations Security and Safety Service (UNSSS) in Vienna, Austria.  In 1996, Mr. Shannon began his career with DEA and was assigned to the Los Angeles Field Division, where he was immediately tasked by DEA with working a long-term U.S. Customs Service money laundering task force investigation in Operation Casablanca.  In October 1999, Mr. Shannon received the Department of Treasury Secretary’s Certificate for his efforts during Operation Casablanca, at which time was the largest money laundering investigation in the history of U.S. law enforcement.

In 2005, Mr. Shannon was promoted to Group Supervisor in the Los Angeles Field Division, and spent six years running enforcement groups in Los Angeles and Orange County.  In July 2011, Mr. Shannon was assigned as an Inspector to the DEA Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), Western Field Office.  In February 2015, Mr. Shannon promoted within OPR to the position of Senior Inspector, and led a team of investigators handling all DEA internal investigations in a region covering the Western United States, Pacific and the Far East.

In January 2016, Mr. Shannon laterally transferred from OPR to the Los Angeles Field Division as Assistant Special Agent in Charge.  In this capacity, Mr. Shannon led five enforcement groups, including the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force, as well as spending over two years overseeing the Administrative Unit.  As collateral duties, Mr. Shannon was in charge of the Special Response Team (SRT), and the ESF-13 disaster response team.  In April 2019, Mr. Shannon took command of the Riverside District Office, which covered San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

In December 2020, Mr. Shannon was appointed to the Senior Executive Service by DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea and assigned to the San Francisco Field Division.