My Unexpected First Arrest: A Rookie IRS Special Agent’s Tale

Two weeks into my role as an IRS Special Agent in a new city, St. Louis, I got an assignment that was radically different from what I’d expected.  When one envisions criminals being arrested by IRS agents, the picture that comes to mind is usually of white-collar criminals – individuals in office buildings, donning suits, their hands dirtied by financial crimes.

However, my first arrest wasn’t as neatly packaged.  It was part of a gargantuan task – a citywide drug bust orchestrated by the DEA, IRS, and local law enforcement.  We had 6 teams, each responsible for apprehending three individuals.  The pre-op meeting, quite fittingly, was in a McDonald’s parking lot. So there we were, huddled around the senior DEA agent as he briefed us.  He held up an image and doled out a quick rundown of one particular individual.  “This case will require extra caution…” he advised, “Our intel suggests this person might have murdered a snitch just last 

While I managed to keep a composed façade, inside, I was secretly in turmoil. I’m an IRS agent, I thought, I shouldn’t be dealing with drug-dealing murders! 

We bring analytical perception, meticulous precision, and a wealth of experience to every case we handle. We believe in the power of numbers to tell stories, and we’re renowned for translating complex financial data into narratives that are easy to understand. 

In the end, we found his place empty – a small mercy for this rookie agent who had just gotten her first taste of the unexpected shades of the occupation.  Even white-collar crime enforcement, it seemed, could lead one down some very dark alleys.