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The FBI has named agency veteran Rainer S. Drolshagen to head up its Minneapolis field office, replacing current Special-Agent-in-Charge Jill Sanborn, who is heading to Washington, D.C., to help lead the counterterrorism division.

Drolshagen has been with the FBI since 1997, most recently serving as deputy assistant director in the intelligence branch.

He worked as acting special-agent-in-charge of the Michigan field office last year. During his tenure, the office conducted several high-profile investigations into abuse of minors, including a Grand Rapids special needs teacher who used his position to exploit underage students and breaking up a sex trafficking ring that included nine children and two adults.

Drolshagen began his career as a special agent in Tennessee, investigating criminal and national security cases. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he led a team that responded to the United Airlines Flight 93 crash.

He later took a supervisor post in counterterrorism, followed by a work as the FBI's representative to the United States European Command in Germany. Then he went to Texas, where he created a border task force. He was promoted to assistant special-agent-in-charge of the Charlotte, N.C. field office, and has been working in leadership roles in the agency's headquarters since.

In his most recent position, according to the FBI news release, he "oversaw program management of the FBI's human intelligence operations, intelligence-related information technology, threat review and prioritization, and the integration of intelligence across the FBI and U.S. intelligence community."

Andy Mannix • 612-673-4036