Historic Homeland Security Task Force New York Targets Foreign Terrorists, Cartel Members, And Criminal Organizations With Ties To Big Apple

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Harry T. Chavis, Jr., and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, joined federal partners on Dec. 10 to announce the establishment of the Homeland Security Task Force (“HSTF”) New York.

Co-led by HSI and the FBI, the HSTF New York will serve as a first-of-its-kind task force that utilizes a whole-of-government approach to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations (“TCOs”) in New York and throughout the United States.

“We hear what New Yorkers want: they want our parks, schools, housing developments, subways, and streets to be safe and feel safe,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “Together with our federal partners and the NYPD, the Southern District is committed to delivering safe streets and a better quality of life for all New Yorkers.  In the last year, we have collectively investigated and charged: members of Tren de Aragua and many other brutally violent gangs with murders, sex trafficking, and narcotics distribution; over a dozen narco-terrorists and members of state-sponsored drug cartels with narcotics distribution; foreign nationals with fentanyl distribution; and most recently, 18 defendants in a wide narcotics sweep aimed at cleaning up Washington Square Park.  The women and men of the SDNY are actively engaged in similar matters and are committed to making New York safer each and every day.”

“The historic collaboration of this Task Force strengthens the mission to protect our citizens by standing between our Districts and the transnational criminal organizations, human smugglers, and cybercriminals who target us with drug trafficking, violence, and economic harm,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.

“FBI New York proudly stands alongside our federal, state, and local partners to co-lead with HSI New York the New York Homeland Security Task Force,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia.  “By bringing the full force of the federal government, this task force will dismantle designated terrorist enterprises who are responsible for trafficking lethal drugs and weapons into our communities.  Through unified partnership, we will continue to defend the homeland from evolving threats, safeguard critical infrastructure, and strengthen national resilience.”

“The people of this city deserve to know that special agents and investigators at every level of law enforcement are standing side-by-side and collaborating under one roof, so that New Yorkers may go about their lives safely and comfortably,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.  “The HSTF New York and HSI, as its co-leader, are driving coordinated investigations that strike at the heart of criminal networks and schemes both here and abroad.  With unity as our strength and coordination as our advantage, we will outpace, outsmart, and outmaneuver transnational criminal organizations at every turn.”

“We are proud to have entered into this agreement with the New York Homeland Security Task Force as a partner and as the third agency on the Executive Committee,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr.  “Whether it is money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act violations, a complex financial fraud, or leveraging our tax authority, we will continue working in tandem with all the agencies under the HSTF umbrella to take criminals off the street and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.  Special Agents with IRS Criminal Investigation have long been known for lending their financial and tax expertise to complex investigations.  With this agreement, our special agents will continue to proactively leverage our knowledge and unique skills for the betterment of this new team.”

The mission of the HSTF is to identify and target for prosecution transnational criminal organizations engaged in diverse criminal schemes involving a myriad of federal violations both within the United States and throughout the world.  Violations include, but are not limited to drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons trafficking, human trafficking, alien smuggling, homicide, extortion, kidnapping, weapons trafficking, and other TCO- related violations where there is or may be a federal investigative interest.

HSTF New York will primarily focus on investigating TCO Foreign Terrorist Organizations (“FTOs”), and is working towards the disruption and full dismantlement of these criminal organizations, combining the full strength of the investigative and intelligence forces of the U.S. government.  One key component of the HSTF is the ability to combine information from our intelligence community partners with our law enforcement investigations to increase our effectiveness in combatting and dismantling the threat.

This task force model allows state, local, and federal law enforcement to extend our reach, share intelligence in real time, and target these threats at every level.

HSTF New York is comprised of law enforcement personnel from state and local law enforcement, including the NYPD, and federal entities from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of Treasury, the Department of State, the Department of War, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Labor.  Participating agencies include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Diplomatic Security Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the New York City Police Department (NYPD); U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Marshals Service – Eastern District of New York; U.S. Marshals Service – Southern District of New York; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the U.S. Secret Service.

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More About the Homeland Security Task Force (“HSTF”)

Homeland Security Task Forces (“HSTFs”) nationwide arrested more than 3,200 foreign terrorists, narcotraffickers, and gangbangers, and seized more than 91 metric tons of narcotics off American streets between August 25 and October 7 alone.

Prior to the creation of HSTF, the federal government had 1,000 competing task forces focused on transnational criminal organizations.  Since January, HSTF has established a new system and force in all 50 states and U.S. territories while coordinating and implementing operations with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners.  Department of War and Intelligence Community partners are also providing HSTF with logistics, intelligence, and operational support.

On August 25, HSTF officially launched its effort to protect the Homeland with a September Surge encompassing 400 operations nationwide. In just 43 days, HSTF’s nationwide operations resulted in 3,266 arrests and seizures including:

• 1,041 Sinaloa members,
• 856 Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Genaracion (“CJNG”) members,
• 641 MS-13 members,
• 456 Tren de Aragua members,
• 1,067 weapons
• More than $3,250,000 in currency
• Approximately 91 metric tons of narcotics

The HSTF will absorb several key components of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”), which has now been retired, to serve as the foundation of the HSTFs, to include critical databases previously utilized by OCDETF, OCDETF Strike Force infrastructure, partnerships, and funding.

HSTFs differ from Safe Street Task Forces (“SSTF”) by focusing on combating multijurisdictional TCOs operating across national borders, while the SSTF will continue to focus on targeting domestic gangs and violence reduction efforts in partnership with state and local law enforcement.  When feasible, SSTF investigations could be enhanced by HSTF resources for maximum impact.

HSTFs differ from Joint Terrorism Task Forces (“JTTF”) by focusing on combating multijurisdictional cartel and international gang TCOs operating across national borders with the ultimate goal to disrupt and dismantle these organizations through prosecution while JTTF will continue to focus on protecting the homeland from foreign and domestic, ideological-based terrorism.