Matthew Allen

Matthew W. Allen was appointed in July 2025 as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Chief of Operations. As Chief of Operations he commands DEA's global drug enforcement efforts in 241 domestic offices in 23 divisions throughout the United States and 93 foreign offices in 69 countries, as well as DEA's Special Operations Division. In this role, Mr. Allen also serves as the principal advisor to the DEA Administrator and Deputy Administrator on all matters pertaining to the daily worldwide operations of DEA.

Previously, he served as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Los Angeles Field Division (LAFD) with oversight of all DEA operations in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange Counties as well as the States of Nevada and Hawaii and the U.S. Territories of Guam and Saipan. Prior to his employment with DEA, SAC Allen was a Police Officer in the city of Charleston, WV.

He began his DEA career in 2002 as a Special Agent (SA) in the LAFD where he held a broad variety of assignments to include General Enforcement, Mobile Enforcement Team (MET) and the Southern California Drug Task Force (SCDTF/HIDTA). In 2009, SAC Allen was assigned to the Kabul Country Office (KCO) in Kabul, Afghanistan. Upon completion of his tour he was re-assigned to the Carlsbad Resident Office (CRO). In 2013, SAC Allen was promoted to Group Supervisor (GS) in the Riverside District Office and then to Resident Agent in Charge (RAC) of the Orange County Resident Office (OCRO) in 2016. During this time he also served as the Special Response Team (SRT) Supervisor for the LAFD. In 2018, SAC Allen became an Inspector with the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) where he remained until 2020 when he was promoted to Assistant Regional Director (ARD) for the North and Central Americas Regions (NCAR). Based out of the Mexico City Country Office (MCCO), SAC Allen served as the long term acting Regional Director of the NCAR with oversight of all DEA operations throughout Mexico, Central America and Canada. In July of 2022 he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. Government and was assigned as Deputy SAC of the LAFD. In 2023, he was named SAC of the LAFD.

Mr. Allen is honored and privileged to lead and work alongside DEA's most dedicated law enforcement professionals serving the citizens of the United States.