DEA Secretly Tracks Millions of Cars

A program run by the Drug Enforcement Administration tracks the movement of vehicles around the United States, compiling a national database that scans and stores millions of motorist records. The goal of the program is to seize drug trafficking assets, but according to government officials and documents, also follows vehicles associated with potential crimes. “It is not new that the DEA uses the license-plate reader program to arrest criminals and stop the flow of drugs in areas of high trafficking intensity,’’ a Justice Department spokesman said. It has not been previously disclosed that the database of car movements is expanded across the country.