DEA agents in Puerto Rico claim discrimination

Ten Puerto Rican agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration have filed suit against their employer, claiming they receive less pay and more dangerous assignments than agents hired in the U.S. and sent to the island.

Attorney Bamily Lopez Ortiz says the DEA may owe some agents more than $100,000.

She says agents hired in the U.S. who come to Puerto Rico receive a bonus for working in a so-called high-intensity drug trafficking area, which Puerto Rican agents already on the island don't get. She says they also get more dangerous assignments because they have local experience that the U.S. agents lack.

The DEA had not yet been served with the suit Monday and a spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

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