Illegal
Drugs
Illegal
drug abuse and its consequences are devastating to our
society and have been recognized
as a national
security threat by the President, the Attorney
General, and the Director of Central Intelligence. While other law enforcement
organizations seek to disrupt drug-trafficking organizations, the dismantlement
of major international and national drug-trafficking organizations is an
area of FBI expertise and core competency. Dismantlement
means the targeted organization
is permanently rendered incapable of being involved in the distribution
of drugs. At a minimum, this requires three objectives
be met: 1) the organization's leaders
must be completely incapacitated; 2) the organization's financial base must be
thoroughly destroyed; and 3) the organization's drug-supply connection/network
must be irreparably disrupted. The FBI's approach gives the Special Agents in
Charge of each field office the flexibility to address significant local drug
problems, but they must do so in a manner that is consistent with and contributes
to the dismantlement of national drug-trafficking organizations. The FBI is uniquely
qualified to dismantle organizations because of the experience, training, and
expertise of its Agents, the statutory jurisdictions at its disposal, the FBI's
presence throughout the country, and its history as a methodical and thorough
investigative agency.
DRUG-TRAFFICKING CASE: OPERATION GREENBACK
The FBI worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration and
the Internal Revenue Service to target a Dominican drug-trafficking organization
operating in western New York. Through the use of a highly placed cooperating
witness, a moneylaundering and drug related police corruption aspect to this
case developed. Multiple wiretaps were put in place and an undercover operation
was initiated. A wiretap, in conjunction with closed-circuit television, documented
four Buffalo Police Department detectives breaking into an undercover residence
for the purpose of stealing drug proceeds. They were ultimately arrested in March
2000. The four detectives were charged with stealing $36,000 from an undercover
FBI Agent, possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony, and civil
rights violations. After an eight-week trial, one police detective was found
guilty of drug trafficking, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit drug trafficking,
civil rights violations, and obstruction of commerce. Two other detectives were
convicted of theft of government property, while a fourth detective was acquitted
on all charges. Three of the detectives were terminated by the Buffalo Police
Department immediately following the verdict, while the acquitted officer was
suspended awaiting termination.
DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE: OPERATION X
This FBI-led investigation targeted the Jose Diogo Theriaga organization,
a transnational methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as "ecstasy," distribution
and money laundering organization operating in Miami, Florida, and overseas.
The
Jose Diogo Theriaga organization sought to purchase nightclubs in Miami
as a means to distribute MDMA and launder the proceeds. OPERATION X also
focused
on
the illicit activities of the Julian Garcia-Herman Roif organization, a
Colombian moneylaundering organization responsible for the laundering of
millions of
dollars of proceeds for drugtrafficking organizations operating in the
Miami area. The
FBI employed sophisticated investigative techniques against both organizations,
including wiretap coverage of telephone and computer communications, controlled
purchases of drug evidence, and the use of an undercover operation. OPERATION
X was conducted in concert with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the
United States Customs Service, and the Dutch National Police. The FBI executed
14
search warrants, indicted and arrested 11 individuals, and seized $605,000,
as well
as executing search warrants on electronic and web-based mail accounts
to gather evidence against the members of the criminal enterprise. This
investigation
exposed and dismantled a previously undiscovered major transnational criminal
enterprise. |