Steven T. Bell was named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division and began his time as the fourth director of the five state territory, overseeing 11 offices in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and eight counties along the western border of Wisconsin and Illinois on January 1. Bell was promoted from Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the DEA Omaha Division, replacing Justin C. King who retired in December.
“It’s truly an honor to serve within the DEA Omaha Division,” Bell said. “This Division is filled with talented individuals all working to execute the agency’s core values with the utmost pride and integrity. I look forward to further developing our law enforcement and community partnerships within the Midwestern region and presenting a united front against the greatest drug threat our nation has ever faced.”
A 33-year veteran of law enforcement, Bell began his career with the Metro Nashville Police Department in 1991. While in Tennessee, Bell worked on patrol, the crime suppression unit, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and narcotics. In 1998, he joined the City of Aurora, Colorado Police Department, serving on the patrol division, narcotics unit and Metro Gang Task Force.
Bell graduated from the DEA Academy in 2004 and was assigned to the Phoenix Division Office as a special agent. He promoted to group supervisor in 2012. Four years later, Bell was assigned to the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at DEA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and moved to the Office of Inspections in 2017. With the creation of the Omaha Division in July 2018, Bell was promoted to ASAC where he developed the infrastructure for the new Division.
A native of Ohio, Bell graduated with a degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati.
The Omaha Division is DEA’s 23rd domestic division and was formed from states previously aligned with the Chicago and St. Louis Divisions to accommodate for federal judicial districts, while providing more centralized investigative and enforcement efforts within the region. The 372,788 square mile Division borders three Canadian provinces and is home to nearly 13 million residents.