DEA Museum

It’s filled with compelling artifacts, hands-on activities and personal histories that underscore DEA’s commitment to keeping Americans safe from dangerous drugs.

Located in Pentagon City along with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the DEA Museum collects, preserves and shares the artifacts and stories of America’s connection to drugs, including public policy, federal drug law enforcement, and the work of DEA employees around the world. To accomplish this mission, the museum acts as the steward of DEA’s collections, archives and historical materials.

DEA Museum

Educational Role

As part of DEA’s public outreach efforts, the museum offers a wide selection of educational activities for all ages on site, on tour and on virtual platforms. A unique museum in America, it inspires visitors with the knowledge to become change agents in the fight against illicit drug activities and misuse.

The museum features compelling exhibits on the legacy of drug use, explains how drugs can affect the body and portrays the work of DEA agents. It displays a fascinating collection of drug paraphernalia and products that have had an adverse impact on the health of Americans over the years.

You learn, for example, that before 1970, packages did not have labels and sometimes contained ingredients like opium, heroin and heavy metals. A bottle of "heroin" from 1898 was marketed as a pain reliever and cough suppressant. There’s "Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Baby Syrup" that contained opium and alcohol. “These products were marketed recklessly,” says Elizabeth Thompson, visitor services coordinator at the museum.

As a result, legislators established the first narcotics law enforcement officers and eventually required the labeling we see today. These stories about history and culture are what make visiting the DEA Museum so interesting.

DEA’s Role

The DEA is charged with enforcing controlled-substance laws as determined by the U. S. Health and Human Services Administration (HHS). It also supports programs aimed at reducing illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets.

At the museum, you’ll learn about the duties performed by DEA personnel using innovative interactives. The first exhibit you’ll see is the Wall of Honor featuring drug enforcement personnel who died in the line of duty. Others show fingerprint specialists and diversion investigators who go after individuals responsible for diverting pharmaceuticals into the illegal drug market, causing our current opioid crisis.

The DEA also employs forensic scientists and chemists who gather evidence that the DEA uses in court. They can determine where a drug originates, the level of potency, and identify shipments of illegal drugs. “Forensics allows us to track threats, see different trends in drug misuse, and identify where drugs are coming from,” says Thompson.

Museum Highlights

Experts like Thompson are available to guide visitors through the modern, interactive displays, but you can take a self-guided tour as well.

Highlights among the museum’s collection of artifacts:

A pair of platform shoes worn by an undercover agent inserting himself into cocaine rings in the 1970s
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle that once belonged to the leader of the Hell’s Angels gang in Salem, Mass. It was seized during a multi-level operation to halt the flow of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine.
A hypodermic needle and hash pipe used before the turn of the 20th century
The ledger from the Corona Hotel in Washington State, where agents noticed that one room in this hotel was never rented, and in it, they discovered a trove of illegal drugs
Kitschy LSD papers featuring Albert Einstein and a huge Homer Simpson bong that demonstrate how traffickers lure people to experiment with drugs
An eerie Pablo Escobar death mask obtained from the Colombian national police after the drug kingpin was killed in a shootout in Medellin, Colombia
A prison suit and two gold- and diamond-encrusted guns owned by Mexican drug lord El Chapo

How to Visit

The free museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. It’s located directly across the street from Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and is easily walkable from the Pentagon City Metro station, one block south. Parking is available at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City garage.