Presentation title slide 42 pt Times New Roman, White

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Countering Trans-border Threats
Kumar C. Kibble Deputy Assistant
Director National Security Investigations ICE
Office of Investigations April 15, 2008

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Outline
Office of Investigations

• Mission
• Priorities
• Investigative Approach
• Illicit Travel
• Illicit Trade
• Illicit Finance

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Office of Investigations (OI)Mission Statement
Office of Investigations

• To defend the Nation by enforcing customs and
  immigration laws through investigations that
  target the people, money, and materials that
  support terrorists and other criminal activities.

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Priorities
Office of Investigations
Counter trans-border threats arising from illicit
travel, trade and finance

• National Security
• Potential terrorist travel facilitation networks
  schemes
• Potential terrorist finance networks
• Arms and technology proliferation

• Public Safety
• Human, arms and drug smuggling networks
• Transnational gangs
• Transnational money laundering and illegal
  remittance
• Human trafficking
• Child exploitation
• Human rights violators
• Intellectual Property Rights violators

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Investigative Approach
Office of Investigations

• Pushing the Borders Out
• 52 ICE Attache Offices
• Extraterritorial investigations
• Partnerships
• DHS agencies, other federal, state, local, tribal
  and foreign law enforcement agencies
• Private Sector
• Intelligence Community
• Information sharing

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ILLICIT TRAVEL


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Illicit TravelThreats Vulnerabilities
Office of Investigations

• We judge that al-Qaida will intensify its
  efforts to put operatives here (NIE, July 2007)
• Terrorists seek to defeat travel and border
  systems by using illicit travel networks,
  including professional human smugglers (NSCTT,
  May 2006)?
• As legal entry into the United States becomes
  more difficult, terrorists increasingly may seek
  ways to exploit what they perceive as weaknesses
  in US and foreign border control operations
  (NSCTT, May 2006)?

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Illicit TravelThreats Vulnerabilities
Office of Investigations

• Lax oversight in the issuance of U.S. visas to
  intending non-immigrant visitors
• Frequent use of fraudulent travel documents and
  manipulated passports by 9/11 hijackers
• Limited tracking of foreign students in the U.S.
• Lack of compliance enforcement for foreign
  nationals in the U.S. in violation of
  visa/immigration status

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Illicit TravelInvestigative Programs
Office of Investigations

• Visa Security Program (VSP)?
• Identity and Benefit Fraud (IBF)?
• Human Smuggling Trafficking (HST)?
• Compliance Enforcement Unit (CEU)?
• National Security Unit (NSU)?

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Illicit Travel Continuum
Office of Investigations

• Visa Security
• ID Benefit
• Fraud

Visa Immigration Fraud

• Human
• Smuggling
• Trafficking

Human Smuggling
Visa Immigration Status Violators

• Compliance
• Enforcement

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Visa Security Program

• ICE deploys special agents to selected posts
  overseas to integrate DHS immigration and law
  enforcement expertise into the visa process

Office of Investigations Visa Security Program

• The VSP enhances national security and public
  safety by
• Preventing terrorists, criminals, and other
  ineligible applicants from receiving U.S. visas
  and
• Maximizing the visa process as a counterterrorism
  tool

• ICE VSP provides a unique security value to the
  visa issuance process by focusing its efforts on
  counter-terrorism activities, uncovering the
  not-yet-known threats to our borders and
  generating law enforcement outcomes beyond the
  visa decision

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Identity Benefit Fraud (IBF)?
Office of Investigations Identity and Benefit
Fraud

• Dismantling criminal organizations that threaten
  national security and public safety and restoring
  integrity to the immigration process.
• Benefit Fraud - The misrepresentation of a
  material fact on a petition or application to
  gain an immigration benefit
• Document Fraud - The manufacturing,
  counterfeiting, alteration, sale and/or use of
  fraudulent documents to circumvent immigration
  laws or for other criminal activity
• Document Benefit Fraud Task Forces (DBFTFs)?

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IBF Successes
Office of Investigations Identity and Benefit
Fraud

• Ohio Man Sentenced to Ten Years Imprisonment for
  conspiracy to provide material support to
  terrorists
• Former CIA and FBI employee pleads guilty to
  conspiracy, unauthorized computer access and
  naturalization fraud
• Key conspirator in massive Vietnamese and Chinese
  marriage fraud scheme sentenced to three years
• Former Bosnian Serb soldier found guilty of
  making false statements

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Human Smuggling Trafficking (HST)?
Office of Investigations Human Smuggling and
Trafficking

• The transportation of people into the U.S.
  involving deliberate evasion of immigration laws.
• Includes bringing illegal aliens into the U.S.,
  as well as the unlawful transportation and
  harboring of aliens already in the U.S.
• Human smuggling has become more violent,
  involving crimes such as murder, kidnapping,
  extortion and other crimes.

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HST Initiatives
Office of Investigations Human Smuggling and
Trafficking

• Extraterritorial Criminal Travel (ECT) Strike
  Force
• Partnership between DOJ Domestic Security Section
  Criminal Division and ICE
• Combines prosecutorial expertise with
  investigative experience to target disrupt and
  dismantle foreign-based Special Interest Alien
  criminal travel networks
• Intelligence driven and supported

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HST Successes
Office of Investigations Human Smuggling and
Trafficking

• International undercover sting leads to three
  Colombians pleading guilty to supporting the FARC
  and alien smuggling charges
• ICE breaks up East African smuggling ring that
  operated in Mexico, Belize and the United States

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Compliance Enforcement Unit (CEU)?
Office of Investigations Compliance Enforcement
Unit

• Prevent criminals and terrorists from exploiting
  the nations immigration system by proactively
  developing cases for ICE field investigation from
  DHS registration systems including
• Student Exchange Visitor Information System
• US Visitor Immigrant Status Indicator
  Technology

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CEU Successes
Office of Investigations Compliance Enforcement
Unit

• Beverly Hills man and operator of English
  language schools charged in massive school fraud
  scheme
• Visa fraud scheme allowed foreign nationals to
  fraudulently obtain student visas to enter, and
  remain in the U.S.

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ILLICIT TRADE


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Illicit TradeThreats Vulnerabilities
Office of Investigations

• The gravest danger our Nation faces lies at the
  crossroads of radicalism and technology. Our
  enemies have openly declared that they are
  seeking weapons of mass destruction, and evidence
  indicates that they are doing so with
  determination. (President Bush, Sep 17, 2002)?
• We assess that al-Qaida will continue to try to
  acquire and employ chemical, biological,
  radiological, or nuclear material in attacks
  (National Intelligence Estimate, July 2007)?

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Illicit TradeInvestigative Programs
Office of Investigations

• Arms and Strategic Technology Investigations
• Contraband Smuggling Unit
• Commercial Fraud and Trade

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Illicit Trade Continuum
Office of Investigations

• Commercial
• Fraud Trade

Customs Fraud IPR

• Contraband
• Smuggling

Contraband Smuggling

• Arms Strategic Technology Investigations

Export Violations
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Arms Strategic Technology Investigations (ASTI)?
Office of Investigations Arms and Strategic
Technology Investigations

• Prevent foreign adversaries and terrorists from
  illegally obtaining U.S. military and dual-use
  commodities and technologies.
• Priorities
• Counter proliferation of U.S. WMD-related
  materials and delivery systems
• Protect U.S. military superiority
• Deny access to U.S. munitions by violent groups
  (drug cartels and terrorists)?

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ASTI Initiatives
Office of Investigations Arms and Strategic
Technology Investigations

• National Export Enforcement Coordination Network
  - Bridges law enforcement and intelligence
  communities to counter proliferation networks
• Project Shield America Industry outreach
  initiative to partner with munitions and
  technology manufacturers, dealers and exporters
• Operation Armas Cruzadas (Arms Crossed) DHS
  partnership with GoM agencies to coordinate
  bi-lateral operations to combat weapons smuggling

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ASTI Successes
Office of Investigations Arms and Strategic
Technology Investigations

• 100 million criminal penalty related to illegal
  transfer of night vision technology
• Undercover sting dismantles procurement network
  seeking 3.5 tons of arms and munitions for Tamil
  Tigers
• ICE and ATF agents seize 24 weapons and arrest 3
  men in El Paso

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ILLICIT FINANCE

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Illicit FinanceThreats Vulnerabilities
Office of Investigations

• Trade-based money laundering represents an
  important channel of criminal activity and, given
  the growth of world trade, an increasingly
  important money laundering and terrorist
  financing vulnerability (FATF Trade-Based Money
  Laundering, Jun 2006)?
• Intelligence gathered from captured terrorist
  suspects and other sources indicates "a trend
  toward bulk-cash smuggling and use of cash
  couriers," -- Stuart Levey, undersecretary of
  Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence

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Illicit FinanceInvestigative Programs
Office of Investigations

• Bulk Cash Smuggling
• Trade Transparency Unit
• Money Service Businesses / Informal Value
  Transfer System
• Cornerstone

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Illicit Finance Continuum
Office of Investigations

• Trade
• Transparency
• Unit

Trade-Based Money Laundering

• Bulk Cash
• Smuggling

Bulk Cash Smuggling
Illegal Money Service Businesses

• MSB/IVTS

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Trade Transparency Unit (TTU)?
Office of Investigations Trade Transparency Unit

• Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) has been
  recognized as a vulnerability to the global
  financial infrastructure.
• ICE, through the TTU initiative, is the only
  federal law enforcement agency to partner with
  foreign countries to share import and export data
  for the purpose of initiating and enhancing
  investigations into trade-based money laundering.
• TTU initiatives have resulted in the
  identification of individuals and organizations
  involved in trade-based money laundering as well
  as major International money laundering schemes.
• ICEs unique authority to enter into Customs
  Mutual Assistance Agreements with foreign
  nations, and the existence of over 50 ICE Attaché
  offices worldwide, has allowed ICE to lead U.S.
  efforts against TBML.

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Imports vs Exports
Office of Investigations Trade Transparency Unit

• Targeting Methodology Includes
• Comparative Analysis (Imports vs. Exports)?
• Chart reflects Significant Customs Fraud or
  Smuggling

Value of Computer Parts Exported from U.S. to
Country X (U.S. Export Information)?
Country X Import Records
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TTU Success

• Euros allegedly derived from narcotics
  trafficking are smuggled from Europe to Colombia
  via Panama
• The smuggled Euros are first sold by the
  traffickers to small foreign exchange businesses,
  who in turn, resell them to larger money exchange
  houses.
• Ultimately, euros are then sold to U.S. based
  exchange houses which broker them back to
  European money dealers, thereby completing the
  cycle of laundering funds.

Office of Investigations Trade Transparency Unit
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Bulk Cash Smuggling (BCS)?
Office of Investigations Bulk Cash Smuggling

• ICE program focuses on three aspects of the
  movement of illicit cash domestic movement in
  the U.S., smuggling across our borders and global
  movement.
• Operation Firewall
• Partnership with CBP as well as domestic and
  international law enforcement to interdict bulk
  currency.
• Operations targeting BCS via commercial and
  private vehicles, commercial airline shipments,
  commercial airline passengers, ferries, and
  pedestrians.
• Since inception in August of 2005, Operation
  Firewall has resulted in the arrest of 287
  individuals and the seizure of over 117,697,466.
  Of this figure 45,071,675 was seized
  internationally with 45 arrests.

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Bulk Cash Smuggling Concealment Methods
Office of Investigations International
Partnerships
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Industry Outreach
Office of Investigations Cornerstone/Financial
Programs

• Cornerstone Initiative
• Outreach initiative to private sector that
  focuses on money laundering vulnerabilities and
  shares red flag indicators.
• Cornerstone Report quarterly newsletter
  highlighting ICEs successful cases distributed
  to more than 20,000 members of the financial and
  law enforcement communities.
• Since inception, more than 4,800 outreach and
  training presentations to more than 90,000
  participants worldwide.
• As a result, there have been 214 arrests, 222
  indictments, and 169 convictions, with seizures
  over 19 million.

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Questions?
Office of Investigations