December 05, 2022
Contact: Emily Murray
Phone Number: (571) 387-3545
For Immediate Release

DEA Special Agent Paul Seema Remembered in Minnesota

Black granite bench

A black granite bench was dedicated in memory of fallen Special Agent Paul Seema in New Prague, Minnesota.

Joy and Jayson Seema with a portrait of Paul Seema.

Joy and Jayson Seema attended the dedication of a bench in memory of DEA Special Agent Paul Seema in New Prague, Minnesota.

MINNEAPOLIS – The family of fallen Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Paul S. Seema was recognized during a bench dedication ceremony honoring Seema November 16, in New Prague, Minnesota. Seema died February 6, 1988, from gunshot wounds he received the previous day during an undercover operation in Pasadena, California.

Seema’s wife Joy and their two sons, Jayson and Santi, attended the ceremony at the Knights of Columbus hall and bench dedication in front of the New Prague library. Retired Special Agents David Jacobson and Richard Crock with the DEA Survivor Benefits Fund spoke at the ceremony with members of the DEA Minneapolis/St. Paul District Office also in attendance.

“We want the families of our fallen agents to know that they’re not forgotten,” Jacobson said. “We started this process of getting the bench placed in New Prague in recognition of Paul about a year ago. This is a landmark that will not only remind the Seema’s and New Prague community of Paul’s work with DEA, but will also provide a constant reminder that there are a lot of Americans who continue to hold Paul’s family close to heart.”

Seema’s DEA Wall of Honor memorial mentions that he was one of three undercover agents negotiating with a Taiwanese criminal group to purchase heroin for $80,000. The agents met the trafficker and went with him to a quiet Pasadena neighborhood to pick up two pounds of heroin. Unbeknownst to Special Agent Seema and his fellow undercover agents, the traffickers planned to rob and kill them for the money. Special Agents Seema and George Montoya were shot and killed in an ambush. Special Agent Seema died the following day, one day after George Montoya passed away from gunshot wounds. Joy, Jayson and Santi moved to Minnesota shortly after Paul Seema’s passing.

The DEA Survivor Benefits Fund (SBF) was formed in 1997.  The fund provides financial and educational assistance to the families of DEA and Task Force Officers killed in the line of duty as well as placing monuments to honor their memory.