HOUSTON – The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Houston field office and FBI Houston announced Thursday the creation of a Homeland Security Task Force in Houston to target growing threats from transnational criminal organizations in Southeast Texas.
The task force was created as a regional component of the national Homeland Security Task Force, established by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice pursuant to an executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 29, to protect the American people from invasion by transnational criminals.
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The task force’s goal is to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations operating in Southeast Texas through a collaborative, whole-of-government approach. The HSTF will 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, according to a release.
The Houston HSTF will work closely with state and local partners to identify, investigate, and eliminate violent criminal organizations and associates operating in communities throughout Southeast Texas.
“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. By establishing this permanently integrated, multiagency task force with dedicated personnel from federal, state, and local law enforcement working side by side with a common mission, we will be better postured to detect and respond to any type of threat we might face.”
The HSTF will be headquartered in Houston and will have a satellite office in Corpus Christi.