Cyber & IP Western Hemisphere

Background

The U.S. Transnational and High-Tech Crime Global Law Enforcement Network (GLEN) program is the result of a partnership between the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (DOS/INL) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (DOJ/CCIPS) and Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (DOJ/OPDAT).

The GLEN is a worldwide law enforcement network of International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) attorney advisors, computer forensic analysts (Global Cyber Forensics Advisors or GCFAs), and federal law enforcement agents who provide technical assistance to foreign law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial partners to combat intellectual property and cybercrime activity, as well as to assist in the collection and use of electronic evidence to combat all types of crime, including transnational organized crime (TOC).

Currently, ICHIPs are posted to regional positions in Africa (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Asia (Hong Kong S.A.R.; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and IPR-focused part-time support from DOJ/OIA Attaché in Bangkok, Thailand), Europe (Bucharest, Romania; Zagreb, Croatia; and The Hague, Netherlands), and Western Hemisphere (São Paulo, Brazil and Panama City, Panama.  Two subject-matter expert ICHIPs—the ICHIP for Global Internet Fraud and Public Health (IFPH) and the ICHIP for Global Dark Web and Cryptocurrency (DWC)—as well as DOJ computer forensic analysts and law enforcement officials with intellectual property and cybercrime expertise, also form part of the GLEN.

The objective of the GLEN is to protect Americans from criminal threats emanating from abroad by delivering targeted technical assistance to encourage both immediate improvements as well as long-term institutional change.  This assistance includes workshops, legislative review, skills development and promoting institutional reform, such as the formation of specialized units to address these criminal threats.  Finally, the ICHIPs encourage countries to join the Council of Europe’s Convention against Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) as well as the G7 24-7 High Tech Crimes Digital Evidence Sharing Network (HTCN), an informal network that provides high-tech expert contacts to assist in preserving and sharing digital evidence.

IPR-Focused ICHIP

The São Paulo-based ICHIP assesses the ability of partner countries throughout the Western Hemisphere to enforce IPR; developing and delivering technical assistance to enforce IPR; assisting in developing or strengthening institutions dedicated to IPR enforcement; monitoring regional trends in IPR protection; and providing expert assistance in support of U.S. intellectual property (IP) in the region.  The IPR ICHIP assists foreign partners with legislative drafting and preparing country submissions for the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual Special 301 Report.  Finally, the ICHIP acts as a liaison between U.S. law enforcement partners in the region and rights-holders, whose support is critical for IPR investigations and prosecutions.

The ICHIP program has sparked similar commitment and efforts from authorities to seize counterfeit hard goods and enforce their own IPR criminal laws.  In São Paulo, the ICHIP program has developed an innovative public-private interagency group of U.S. rights-holders and municipal and federal officials.  Over the past several years, the group has seized over 4,187 tons of counterfeit goods with an estimated value of at least $522 million and criminally prosecuted individuals for facilitating slave labor and / or distributing counterfeit goods. The ICHIP program supports a whole-of-government approach by promoting inter-agency national and regional working groups focused on IPR enforcement.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICHIP program helped foreign partners combat cyber-enabled COVID-related fraud and shifted attention to e-commerce platforms used to sell counterfeit goods.  These endeavors led to numerous seizures of counterfeit and potentially unprotective personal protective equipment throughout the region despite limited resources and personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cyber-Focused ICHIP

The Panama City-based ICHIP covers the Western Hemisphere region, providing technical assistance to prosecutors, police, cyber forensic analysts, and judges to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate complex cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime.  This work promotes the creation of networks for cooperation among relevant criminal justice actors in the region.  The ICHIP also assists foreign counterparts in drafting and implementing institutional and legislative reforms that will facilitate the successful investigation and prosecution of such crime.  Additionally, the ICHIP shares best practices with law enforcement officials and regulators throughout the region on investigating emerging threats such as the sale of illicit goods and services on the dark web.  Finally, the ICHIP raises awareness of international tools for combating cybercrime collaboratively.  ICHIP technical assistance buoyed Brazilian law enforcement officials’ efforts to seek accession to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.  The Council of Europe formally invited Brazil to join the Convention in 2019, and Brazil formally acceded in December 2022.

IPR-Focused ICHIP Recent Activities

• March 2025: A Peruvian judge and member of the ICHIP-led Digital Piracy Working Group (DPWG) spearheaded the creation of a Specialized Course on Intellectual Property and Digital Piracy, a virtual training series for 150 Peruvian judicial officers on intellectual property law, digital piracy, and digital evidence. The initiative was inspired by his participation in ICHIP programs over the past two years and exemplifies how the ICHIP “train the trainer” model equips judges with the knowledge and skills to handle IP cases and supporting U.S. efforts to combat the global trade in counterfeit goods.
• February 2025: An ICHIP-mentored Costa Rican police officer and member of ICHIP São Paulo’s DPWG seized 4,500 counterfeit tennis shoes, the majority of which illegally bore a U.S. trademark belonging to Nike. In the same location, police found 30,000 fentanyl pills.
• January 2025: ICHIPs São Paulo and IFPH hosted a program in Panama City, Panama for law enforcement from Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, and Uruguay on counterfeiting in the sports industry. The conference encouraged law enforcement to view IP as a tool used by criminal organizations to conduct trade-based money laundering. Using knowledge and skills developed during this program, a participant from Colombia reported that he and his unit disrupted a criminal organization responsible for selling $2.2 million USD worth of counterfeit goods, including from U.S. brands Nike, Jordan, and Under Armour, shipped from China.
• December 2024: The ICHIP supported an intellectual property crime workshop hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Brazil's National Council for Combating Piracy and Crimes Against Intellectual Property (CNCP). Officials from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, as well as private industry representatives, attended the workshop, which focused on collaboration in the creation of institutionalized mechanisms for exchanging information and data on intellectual property crimes.
• October 2024: ICHIPs São Paulo and IFPH conducted the third meeting of the Western Hemisphere Digital Piracy Working Group (DPWG) in Bogota, Colombia. Working Group Members received technical assistance on best practices in cyber and digital piracy investigations, and digital evidence.

Cyber-Focused ICHIP Recent Activities

• January 2025: Prosecutors in Medellin, Colombia, obtained a conviction in a cryptocurrency robbery case. The investigation was led by a member of the Western Hemisphere Cryptocurrency Working Group. After obtaining the cryptocurrency from the victims, the defendant laundered the funds through exchange accounts. The investigator successfully recovered approximately $80,000 USD in cryptocurrency during the investigation. Following the conviction, the sentence included an order of forfeiture for the seized cryptocurrency—a first in Colombia.
• November 2024: The ICHIP and an FBI Forensic Analyst mentored prosecutors and investigators from Colombia’s federal prosecutor’s Financial Crimes Section on a largescale cryptocurrency laundering investigation. During the multiday engagement, the ICHIP and FBI analyst provided advice and demonstrations on a range of subjects to help advance the investigation. The Colombian investigators prepared a memorandum of the lessons learned to use as a guide for future investigations.
• November 2024: The ICHIP conducted an advanced cybercrime investigations workshop in Panama City, Panama for 36 Panamanian prosecutors and investigators from different units that focus on cyber and cyber-enabled crime.