Jeffrey Epstein was the target of a sprawling federal investigation into alleged money laundering, drug smuggling and sex trafficking operation by a specialized unit shut down last year by the Trump administration.
The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration opened the investigation into Epstein and a dozen other individuals in 2015, according to five sources close to the case, as part of a longstanding probe into organized crime, although none of the targets were charged with any crimes and it's not clear how long the case remained open, reported Bloomberg.
"It began after an informant told authorities that Epstein was involved in the illicit funding and distribution of so-called club drugs, including ecstasy, ketamine and methamphetamines," Bloomberg reported, based on the sources who asked not to be named so they could discuss sensitive law enforcement matters.
"Initial information about the 2015 investigation surfaced in January in a heavily redacted document that was released by the DOJ," the report added. "These new details about the investigation deepen the mystery surrounding the serial sex abuser, and reveal a striking level of scrutiny into him that extended beyond the federal sex-crimes probe that has captured international attention for years. They also reflect a pattern: As Epstein famously cultivated high-profile connections with Wall Street executives, politicians and royalty, federal authorities secretly kept their eyes on him."
At least eight U.S. government agencies – including the FBI, DEA and the Treasury Department – were investigating Epstein at the time of his 2009 release from custody in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution, according to documents released in January by the Department of Justice.
"The documents show that law enforcement agencies kept tabs on Epstein by tracking his movements, building dossiers on his connections and following his money as it moved through offshore accounts," Bloomberg reported. "Foreign governments did likewise. The U.S. Secret Service’s White House division and Harvard University’s campus police conducted background checks on Epstein years after he was released from custody in Florida."
The DEA investigation, which was conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, or OCDETF, was launched in December 2010, long before Epstein or anyone in his circle were targeted, as part of a drug trafficking probe into nightclubs in New York, Mexico and elsewhere.
"The lead DEA agent on Operation Chain Reaction wrote in a status update [around January 2015] that he expected the case to wrap up in a few months after all the defendants [in separate cases] were sentenced," Bloomberg reported, according to the sources. "But in a twist, one suspected drug trafficker became an informant and told federal agents that Epstein had been involved in the funding and distribution of ecstasy, ketamine and methamphetamines, the people familiar with the matter said. The informant also said that Epstein ran a prostitution ring."
The DEA asked OCDETF’s fusion center to prepare a “target profile” on Epstein and 12 others in April 2015, saying the agency needed that information as part of its investigation into money laundering, drug trafficking and the procurement of Eastern European prostitutes for high profile clientele, the sources told Bloomberg.
"An analyst at the fusion center wrote in the 69-page [target profile] that the DEA’s investigation involved 'illegitimate wire transfers which are tied to illicit drug and/or prostitution activities occurring in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York City,'" Bloomberg reported, citing a heavily redacted copy released by the DOJ.
CBS News first reported on that redacted document last week, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked the DEA last month to provide an unredacted copy of that target profile and additional details about its “mystery investigation" into Epstein, 12 associates and two businesses.
"Bloomberg has learned their identities from the people familiar with the matter," the outlet reported. "They include Epstein’s lawyer, Darren Indyke; his brother, Mark; and his accountants, Bella Klein, Harry Beller and Richard Kahn. Indyke and Kahn are co-executors of Epstein’s estate. Epstein died while in federal custody in August 2019."
"The two businesses are Wagging Tail Entertainment and Ossa Properties Inc. Peggy Siegal, an entertainment publicist and friend of Epstein’s, did business under Wagging Tail, according to multiple emails in the DOJ’s Epstein documents," the report added. "Ossa is a real estate company owned by Mark Epstein. Anthony Barrett, who was an executive at Ossa Properties, was also named in the target profile. Some of Epstein's victims have said in civil lawsuits that they were sexually abused in a building managed by Ossa Properties."
A representative for Siegal said she was never questioned in the case or even aware of it and is no longer affiliated with Wagging Tail, while Mark Epstein also said he was not aware of the probe or questioned as part of it, and an attorney for Indyke and Kahn said they were not aware of its existence.
Klein, Beller and Barrett did not respond to requests for comment, Bloomberg reported, and six women named as targets were not identified because publicly available information indicates that they could be considered Epstein victims.
Operation Chain Reaction was officially closed on June 16, 2023, and OCDETF was defunded and shut down in May 2025 as part of the Trump administration's sweeping government cuts in the early days of his second administration.
Epstein was found dead in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
