HOUSTON, Texas — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and the FBI teamed up to create a Homeland Security Task Force in Houston to combat the “emerging threats from transnational criminal organizations in Southeast Texas.” The announcement follows the arrest in June of nearly 1,400 criminal aliens in the Houston area.
The Houston Field Office of ICE Homeland Security Investigations and FBI Houston announced the creation of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) on July 17. The HSTF’s stated objective is to end the presence of transnational criminal organizations in Southeast Texas.
Earlier this month, Breitbart Texas first reported that ICE officers in the Houston area arrested 1,361 criminal aliens in June. The arrests included 32 child predators, nine murderers, one illegal alien convicted of hijacking an airplane, and 16 cartel or gang members.
“As transnational criminal organizations, foreign terrorist organizations, drug cartels, foreign gangs and other bad actors continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, it’s vital that we work together as a law enforcement community to find transformative ways to confront emerging threats,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “This is especially true in Southeast Texas, where we face a myriad of unique border-related challenges and threats from transnational criminal organizations.”
The HSTF will utilize a “whole-of-government” approach to conduct “intelligence-driven, multijurisdictional investigations targeting drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons trafficking, human trafficking, alien smuggling, homicide, extortion, kidnapping, child exploitation, and other transnational crimes,” ICE officials stated.
FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams added, “Foreign terror organizations who profit off violence, drugs, and human lives now face a united front unseen before in Houston.”
“For the first time, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are focused on hunting down and eradicating transnational criminals within Houston communities,” Williams explained. “Federal, state, and local police will coordinate with the U.S. Intelligence Community and overseas partners to efficiently eliminate newly designated terrorists wreaking havoc in our neighborhoods.”
Last month’s arrests in the Houston area included cartel and gang members. These include members and associates of:
Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) are designated by the U.S. Department of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Breitbart Texas reported.
Officials said the task force will work directly with Texas and Houston-area law enforcement organizations to “identify, investigate, and eliminate violent criminal organizations and associates operating in communities throughout Southeast Texas.” The cooperating law enforcement agencies include Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service, the IRS’ Criminal Investigative Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area director, U.S. attorneys from the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas, and other federal, state and local partners.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
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