United States Drug Enforcement Administration

OMAHA, Neb., –Dustin R. Gillespie was named Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Field Division and begins work today overseeing the agency’s 11 offices across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Appointed by DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole, Gillespie is the fifth person to hold the title of Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Omaha Field Division since its formation in 2018.  

Special Agent in Charge Gillespie will guide the DEA Omaha Field Division’s efforts in disrupting and dismantling major transnational criminal organizations, to include cartels recently deemed Foreign Terrorist Organizations. He inherits a Field Division in which DEA agents have seized more than 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine in the first eight months of the year and removed close to four million lethal doses of fentanyl in both pill and powder form. 

“I am honored to lead the men and women of the Omaha Field Division, especially at a time when DEA’s mission, work and impact has never been more important,” DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dustin R. Gillespie said. “The incredible people and communities within our five-state region represent the best of America. Protecting them from drug traffickers and their destructive behavior is our highest priority. Our personnel will continue working tirelessly to dismantle these criminal elements and safeguard our neighborhoods.”

Gillespie began his career with DEA in 2006 as a special agent in the Phoenix Field Division. Following his time in Phoenix, Gillespie served as an instructor at DEA’s Basic Agent Training Program in Quantico, Virginia, before moving on as Staff Coordinator in the Gangs and Violent Crime Section of DEA’s Special Operations Division. Gillespie returned to the Phoenix Field Division in 2017 as Group Supervisor of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Enforcement Group and Strike Force Group. In this role, Gillespie led multi-agency teams targeting Mexico-based cartel leaders and their criminal distribution networks across the United States.

In 2020, Gillespie was named Staff Coordinator at the El Paso Intelligence Center. He was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Salt Lake City District Office, within the Rocky Mountain Field Division, in 2021. Gillespie oversaw DEA’s operations in Utah, while working collaboratively with federal, state and local partners to prioritize investigations targeting cartels and other violent criminal organizations responsible for distributing deadly drugs.

Gillespie is a graduate of Middlebury College and received his master’s degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. He served four years as an officer in the U.S. Army.

Gillespie succeeds Steven T. Bell as DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge.