Administrator Uttam Dhillon

Acting Administrator, DEA

Bio Current as of September 20, 2019

Uttam Dhillon was appointed Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration on July 2, 2018 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

In 2006, Mr. Dhillon was confirmed by the United States Senate as the first Director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security. In that role, he worked closely with other federal agencies to coordinate the federal government’s anti-drug efforts. Prior to DHS, Mr. Dhillon served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice where he led the development of the Department’s anti-gang efforts as chair of the Attorney General’s Anti-Gang Coordination Committee, developed policies and procedures for resolving federal law enforcement jurisdictional conflicts over terrorist-related explosives investigations, served as a member of the Attorney General’s Review Committee on Capital Cases, and was appointed executive director of the President’s Board on Safeguarding Americans’ Civil Liberties.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Dhillon served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California for over six years. In that role, he directed complex investigations of major narcotics trafficking organizations and gangs. Mr. Dhillon successfully prosecuted cases involving narcotics trafficking, money laundering, alien smuggling, and gun possession crimes. He also argued multiple appeals before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

More recently, Mr. Dhillon served as Deputy Counsel and Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States. Mr. Dhillon also has significant experience in the Legislative Branch, holding several senior roles including Chief Oversight Counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, and Senior Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Mr. Dhillon graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology from the University of California, San Diego and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from California State University, Sacramento. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.