Terrorism and Transnational Crime

Terrorism and Transnational Crime

Transnational crimes-such as human trafficking and cybercrime-transcend borders, including the borders of the United States. ICITAP provides technical assistance and training that improves the capacity of foreign governments to fight transnational crime and, in turn, advances the U.S. National Security Strategy and other interests of the United States. This includes programs that help other nations combat:

• Terrorism
• International drug trafficking
• Organized crime
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children
• Human trafficking
• Money laundering
• Cybercrime

ICITAP's assistance is geared to the specific nature of organized crime in the host country and its region. Training can cover infiltration, corruption, managing informants, witness protection, electronic surveillance, undercover operations, and the use of task forces.

Programs

Here are a few examples of ICITAP's work in helping law enforcement institutions around the globe combat transnational crime:

Organized Crime and Gangs

ICITAP provided forensics equipment to laboratories in Bulgaria—a major hub in the "Balkan Route" for transport of narcotics from the Middle East—to help Bulgaria in its fight against organized crime. In Tajikistan, ICITAP's work addresses the growing concern over narcotics trafficking; in 2007, for example, the quantity of heroin seized by the Tajikistan government—with assistance from the international community—made it one of the top three countries in the world for narcotics seizures. In Colombia and Ukraine, ICITAP provided computer forensics training to improve the collection of evidence from hard drives, cells phones, and PDAs used in money-laundering operations.

Trafficking in Persons

In Indonesia, ICITAP, working with Justice Department's Civil Division, developed a "points-of-origin" approach to improve the investigation and interdiction capacity of the Indonesian police in human trafficking cases. The points of origin strategy—which focuses on training police and victim advocate groups in areas where large numbers of victims are recruited—has resulted in increased arrests and is a model for other Asian countries. In Tanzania, ICITAP is working on a program that combats the trafficking of girls from rural areas into cities for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation and the trafficking of boys to exploitative work on farms and in mines. ICITAP is working with State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) to further address this crime in Gambia, Gabon, Senegal, Nigeria, Uganda, and Madagascar.

Cybercrime

ICITAP helped the Indonesian police develop a cybercrime unit—including a cybercrime forensic laboratory and a training center—that assisted in major terrorism investigations. In partnership with other organizations, ICITAP helped introduce the Child Exploitation Tracking System in Indonesia, the second country to use this online pedophile investigation tool.

Intellectual Property Rights

After receiving ICITAP training in intellectual property rights, Indonesian detectives investigated a pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant in Jakarta and seized millions of counterfeit drug tablets. Also in Indonesia, ICITAP helped the Ministry of Industry implement new optical disk regulations and offered technical assistance to the country's special economic crimes unit, which—after receiving ICITAP training— conducted raids that recovered large quantities of pirated software.

Counterterrorism

ICITAP works with key allies to combat terrorism, including assisting the FBI with the Global Fingerprint Initiative. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, ICITAP has provided training to counterterrorism investigators who have successfully applied the training in domestic terrorism cases. In the Philippines, graduates of ICITAP's crime scene specialist course began using their skills immediately to identify suspected terrorists.