EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The FBI El Paso Field Office is participating in the “first-of-its-kind” Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), a nationwide initiative targeting criminal organizations.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are leading efforts to target cartels, foreign terrorist organizations, and transnational gangs whose list of crimes includes homicide, kidnapping, human trafficking, extortion, and smuggling drugs across U.S. borders, according to a news release by the FBI El Paso.
“Your FBI and our partners are united behind one common goal: protecting the American people,” Jarod Brown, special agent in charge of the FBI El Paso Field Office, said. “In just the past seven months, FBI El Paso made 75 arrests and was the first FBI office to successfully indict subjects working for Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) utilizing the new Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation. With the help of our Mexican law enforcement partners the subjects were arrested and charged with providing material support to an FTO. Criminals: we won’t allow our citizens to become your next victims.”
According to the FBI El Paso, the task force rallies dozens of federal agencies as well as state and local partners across the nation.
The El Paso HSTF includes the following law enforcement partners:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
- United States Marshals Service (USMS)
- United States Border Patrol (USBP)
- United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP)
- El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPCSO)
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