DEA Chicago Division Welcomes New Special Agent in Charge
Shane R. Catone, a 22-year veteran of the DEA, tapped to lead DEA’s federal drug enforcement efforts throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin
CHICAGO – Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance C. Cole has appointed DEA Chicago Field Division Deputy Special Agent in Charge Shane R. Catone as the new Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Chicago Field Division.
As the Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division, Catone maintains direct oversight of all federal drug enforcement efforts focused on targeting, disrupting, and dismantling major transnational criminal organizations, consolidated priority organization targets, and violent street gangs involved in large-scale poly-drug trafficking, money laundering, and cybercrime activities throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Catone joined the DEA in 2003 as a Special Agent with the DEA Miami Field Division, where he directed and participated in numerous international investigations. These investigations resulted in the arrests of over 200 defendants, and seizures of over 33 metric tons of cocaine, 200 kilograms of heroin, thousands of pounds of marijuana, and millions of dollars in assets and U.S. currency.
From 2011 to 2016, as a supervisory Special Agent with the DEA Miami Division’s West Palm Beach District Office, Catone led a multi-agency federal drug task force in conducting high-level investigations against international drug traffickers, including Colombian paramilitary groups and Mexican cartels responsible for sending multi-ton shipments of cocaine and heroin into the U.S.
Catone and his enforcement and task force groups operated throughout Europe, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and China. During that time, Catone coordinated several high-risk operations involving multi-tiered criminal organizations and secured indictments and extraditions of numerous priority organizational targets.
From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Catone was an Inspector and Senior Inspector in the DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility, where he conducted and supervised investigations of violations of federal and state law and the DEA’s Standards of Conduct. Additionally, Catone was a staff coordinator in the DEA’s Office of Congressional and Public Affairs and performed liaison services on behalf of the DEA to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, U.S. counter-narcotics efforts, and DEA regulatory programs.
In 2018, Catone joined the DEA Chicago Field Division as an Assistant Special Agent Charge, spearheading the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Strike Force. In 2021, Catone was promoted to Deputy Special Agent in Charge, supporting Division leadership in executing and overseeing the Chicago Division’s drug enforcement mission.
Catone began his law enforcement career in 1992 as a military police officer with the United States Marine Corps and holds a bachelor’s degree in sports science from the University of West Florida.
