WASHINGTON: The US government started keeping secret records of international phone calls made by Americans in 1992 in a programme intended to combat drug trafficking, USA Today reported, citing current and former intelligence and law enforcement officials.
The programme, run by the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, was halted by Attorney General Eric Holder in 2013 amid the fallout from revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about NSA data collection, the paper reported.