Errol J. Chavez began his law enforcement career in June 1971 with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He first worked as a patrolman, then as a detective while attending the University of New Mexico. Errol graduated from the University of New Mexico in December 1971 and went on to serve in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs as a Special Agent in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
During the years that followed, Errol was transferred by the Drug Enforcement Administration to: Nogales, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Barcelona, Spain; and Mexico City, Mexico. In 1981 he was selected as Resident Agent in Charge of the Medellin, Colombia Resident Office where he served until September 1983. He then returned to Houston, Texas and was later promoted to Group Supervisor and assigned to the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force in New York City, New York. In March 1987, he was reassigned to the Cocaine Investigations Section as a Staff Coordinator at the DEA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In January 1989, he was promoted to Senior Inspector with the Office of Professional Responsibility. He was then assigned to the Heroin Investigations Section as Chief. He attended the National War College at Fort McNair from August 1990 until May 1991; then was reassigned to the New England Field Division in Boston, Massachusetts as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge. In November 1994, he was promoted to the Senior Executive Service as the Associate Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division; and, in November 1995 he was reassigned as the Special Agent in Charge of the San Diego Field Division where he served until 2002. In 2002 he was reassigned to the Phoenix Field Division until he retired from DEA in December 2003.
During Errol's career with DEA he attended numerous supervisory and management training schools before being selected for the federal government's most prestigious school for military and government leaders, the National War College. He received a post-graduate Diploma form the War College in 1991.
While with DEA, Mr. Chavez received several awards for his performance in both foreign and domestic offices. Errol conducted overt and covert investigations, participated in complex investigations involving international criminal organizations, developed tactical and strategic intelligence and provided directions and supervision to implement overall DEA policy in Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Immediately after retiring from DEA, Mr. Chavez was hired by the Executive Committee of the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) as their Regional Director in the Southwest Border HIDTA. Errol's responsibilities included performing audits on $11 million distributed to 16 Federal, State and Local Agencies throughout the region. After more than two years of serving HIDTA, Mr. Chavez served as the Executive Vice President of International Affairs for a security systems company located in Las Cruces.
Mr. Chavez' numerous career assignments required him to administer multi-million dollar budgets and supervise hundreds of people. Errol has experience testifying in front of US Congressional Committees and in both Federal and State Courts. Errol also participated in some of DEA's most sophisticated money laundering investigations that resulted in the seizure of multi-millions of dollars.
Mr. Chavez is the past President of the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA), the past President of the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association (INEOA), the past Chairman of the Department of Justice Association of Hispanic Employees for Advancement and Development (DOJ AHEAD), the past Chairman of the DEA's Hispanic Advisory Committee, the past Chairman of DEA's Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Advisory Committee, the past Chairman of the California Border Alliance Group (CBAG) for HIDTA, and the past Chairman of the Southwest Border HIDTA.
Growing up in Northern New Mexico, Errol attended the New Mexico Military Institute in 1963-1964, returning to Espanola to complete his high school education. He received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of New Mexico in 1971. Errol has four children and five grandchildren and resides in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
