- 5 months ago
US Attorney for Washington D.C. held a press conference with federal law enforcement officials to announce the seizure of 300,000kg of precursor chemicals bound for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
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00:00Okay,
00:28got to get closer. Get closer. Get closer. Get closer. Come on, guys. Welcome, everyone.
00:39Is this on? Tim? You can hear it? Okay, good. All right. Thank you all for coming out today.
00:46We think that this is a very important issue, and I flew down from Washington because I think that this
00:58is so significant, and I very much appreciate your being here along with the people who are
01:03standing behind me. Every day, tons of chemicals that are used to create synthetic drugs like
01:11methamphetamine and fentanyl are shipped from China to Mexico in China's undeclared war against America
01:22and her citizens. And every day in funeral homes across this country, we see the tragic consequences
01:32of what has happened in this undeclared war. The families who were forced to say goodbye to their
01:40loved ones because of this scourge. And so today, we announce a very significant seizure of two
01:49shipments of chemicals shipped on two different vessels on the high seas en route to the Sinaloa
01:58cartel in Mexico. From China to Mexico. The port of lading was Shanghai, China. The port of discharge,
02:09Mexico. What am I talking about? I'm talking about 363,000 pounds of benzyl alcohol, along with
02:21334,000 pounds of n-methylformamide. They would have been used to make 420,000 pounds of methamphetamine,
02:37which would have a street value here in Houston of $569 million, with a higher street value as you go up
02:47the northern and northeastern seaboard to New York City. Now, the labs that were under construction,
02:56that were being used to integrate these chemicals to make the methamphetamine, were under the
03:04geographical control of the Sinaloa cartels. And these cartels are capable and are known to make
03:12more than one ton of methamphetamines a week. Now, because President Trump and Secretary of State
03:22Marco Rubio have declared the Sinaloa cartel a foreign terrorist organization, it gives all of us
03:29in law enforcement the ability to move quicker and to seize quicker. And this cartel, as I'm sure all of
03:38you know, is one of the largest producers and traffickers of fentanyl. And they use murder,
03:46kidnapping, torture, and violence as a way of doing business. And let it be known that anyone who is
03:56working with them, whether they claim innocence or not, if they know that they are, they are providing
04:03material support to terrorism. Now, this government forfeiture today of property allows us to seize
04:13all of the property, whether it is on domestic or foreign territory, even seizing property outside of
04:24the United States. And that is the significance of the FTO. Now, when you have a chance, I want you to
04:31take a look at the barrels behind me. There are 1,300 barrels filled with precursors to methamphetamine.
04:42It will take 24 18 wheelers to take these precursors to a storage facility in a safe location. I'm going to say that
04:56again. It will take 24 18 wheelers to take these barrels to a storage facility in a secure location.
05:08So today's interdiction highlights an incredible work that has been done by the Homeland Security
05:17investigation, as well as Customs and Border Patrol, and my office in Washington, D.C.
05:24that was on this case, because this is what we do wherever it occurs. And we will continue to stay
05:32on top of these organizations and on top of the movement of these precursors throughout the high
05:39seas to prevent them from making it to the United States. And let me say that this interdiction
05:45has stopped the drug labs that were planned on producing meth from operating.
05:51Now, how do we get to this point? Do it because we've got smart people behind me. We got people
05:59who understand drug trafficking, they understand money laundering techniques, and they understand
06:05transportation distribution, and they analyze and they are just smart as hell. And thank God for
06:11every one of them. And I want to thank them for being here today and for the work that they do.
06:17And before you leave, I want to make sure that you look at those 1300 barrels. And I want you to have a
06:26visual of dead Americans instead of where those barrels are, because that's what would have happened.
06:32Now, I'm going to call upon Homeland Security investigation of the Agent Director, Todd Lyons.
06:41And after that, the Custom and Mortar Patrol Director of Field Operations, Judd Murdoch. Todd?
06:47Thank you, ma'am. You don't have to step on me.
06:50Yeah, quietly.
06:52Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Todd Lyons. I'm the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
07:01First off, I want to begin by thanking the U.S. Attorney. She's been an amazing partner.
07:05She's been side-by-side with us all the way with Homeland Security investigations and ICE.
07:10And it's because of her and her office, we could have successes like we had here today.
07:15I also want to thank Customs and Border Protection for hosting us today,
07:18as well as all the other law enforcement partner agencies that were involved in this seizure.
07:23The FBI, the DEA, the Department of Defense Joint Interagency Task Force, U.S. NORTHCOM,
07:30as well as the Texas National Guard.
07:33In recent years, the number of drug-related deaths in America have grown to more than 100,000 casualties,
07:41and that's just way too much.
07:44This tragic and senseless loss each year has been sure that since President Trump took office,
07:50that's his number one priority, is taking these weapons of mass destruction off the street.
07:56HSI's Operation Hydra is unique from our other approaches to combating drug trafficking
08:01because it targets the supply-line chemical precursors that manufacture illicit narcotics
08:06rather than the finished products.
08:09As a result, it's possible for HSI to prevent a much larger volume of narcotics
08:14entering the international and the domestic drug supply lines.
08:19These two shipments originated from the same vendor in China.
08:23They were destined to go with the hands of the Sinaloa cartel.
08:27Had these precursors made it to their destination, they would have made hundreds of thousands of pounds
08:33of methamphetamine with profits of over half a billion dollars, which would lead to more American deaths here,
08:40not only in Houston, but all across the country.
08:43Under this operation, HSI used sophisticated analytical tools and techniques,
08:48as well as our extensive investigative tools,
08:51in our deep knowledge about cross-border trade to ensure that we identify these shipments
08:58before they got into any illicit hands.
09:00This marks the first time a seizure warrant was issued for the material support of terrorism.
09:07So let me just say that again.
09:08Under 18 U.S.C., United States Code, 2339B,
09:13we were able to charge someone with material support of terrorism,
09:16and that's the Sinaloa cartel.
09:20The ability to attain a warrant for this was only possible because of President Trump's executive order
09:26designating the Department of State to designate major drug cartels
09:31and foreign terrorist organizations.
09:35After seizing these two shipments,
09:37HSI International worked closely with our foreign law enforcement partners
09:41to consolidate the shipments in Panama and divert them here to the port of Houston.
09:46Our agents in Guatemala, Panama, and Mexico
09:49provided significant support to our Homeland Security investigation team here in Houston
09:54throughout this whole investigation.
09:57Operation Hydra continues to be a tremendous success
10:01to bolster our efforts to combat drug trafficking.
10:05Operations like this is key to our Homeland Security Task Force.
10:09The amount of partners that work together to take these illicit drugs off our street
10:13is key to making America safe again.
10:16I can't thank all of our partners enough,
10:18and I can't thank you, Mr. Chairman,
10:20for everything you've done for us to take these deadly substances off our street.
10:24Appreciate it, man.
10:27Again, good morning.
10:30My name is Jed Murdock.
10:32I'm the Director of Field Operations for the Houston Field Office for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
10:35I truly appreciate the work of U.S. Attorney Pira and her team to my left,
10:40as well as our other federal partners that are here with me today.
10:44I'm honored to speak briefly on behalf of the men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
10:49We're committed to protecting the American people and our nation's borders.
10:53The seaport environment here in the Houston-Galveston area presents unique challenges
10:57to the national security and border mission that we carry out every single day.
11:02Global criminal networks and designated terrorist organizations
11:06work to exploit our borders in many creative ways
11:10to move dangerous people and dangerous things here to the United States.
11:13The many barrels of precursor chemicals that are behind me
11:17are directly linked to one of the most dangerous and deadly terrorist networks,
11:21the Sinaloa cartel.
11:22If you're unfamiliar, the Sinaloa cartel is one of the most violent
11:26and brutal terrorist organizations in the world.
11:29They have produced and distributed record amounts of drugs worldwide
11:32and are responsible for countless deaths, devastation,
11:35destruction of communities in the United States and abroad.
11:40This seizure represents one of the largest interdictions of its kind in history
11:43and highlights the critical role of interagency collaboration
11:46and intelligence sharing in combating threats posed by drug trafficking organizations
11:52and terrorist groups.
11:54It's precisely why we bring our many unique areas of expertise together
11:57to form these law enforcement partnerships to combat the enemy.
12:01The Sinaloa cartel activities are not merely criminal.
12:04They are acts of terror that threaten the safety and security of our nation.
12:07By targeting their supply chains and disrupting their operations,
12:09we are sending a clear message.
12:13DHS will not tolerate anyone or anything that wants to harm our community.
12:18Let me be clear.
12:19This seizure is not just a victory for law enforcement.
12:22It's a victory for every family and every individual
12:25who's been impacted by the devastation of drug addiction and cartel violence.
12:29We will continue to stand vigilant,
12:31using every resource that we can throw at this problem set
12:33to protect our borders and dismantle criminal organizations and terrorist organizations.
12:37Again, thank you very much for being here today
12:39and a special thanks again to the U.S. Attorney for being here with us as well.
12:48Hi.
12:49Do you have any questions?
12:58When was it intercepted?
12:59Like a week ago.
13:01When did we intercept it?
13:04Yeah, within the last week.
13:06Within the last week.
13:07We had to unload it.
13:10It was in the big cartons.
13:13What do you call those cartons?
13:14The shipping containers.
13:15Yeah, you know those shipping containers that you see?
13:18We had a lot of those containers,
13:20and the barrels are then in the containers.
13:22People look so worried.
13:28Right now, this is a seizure of the goods of a foreign terrorist organization.
13:33We are working on that part of it as we speak.
13:37We'll let you know on that.
13:38But I think the most important part of this, as you heard from both Judd as well as Tom,
13:44is this is a first in many ways.
13:46And not just in terms of the use of the statute, but in terms of the size of the seizure.
13:53And again, I have to tip my hat to those individuals involved in this investigation.
13:59This is serious business, folks.
14:01This isn't about people just sitting at a desk writing a warrant.
14:05This is serious, dangerous business.
14:08And that's why I thought it was important to come down here
14:11and let you know the kind of work that's being done by people in the government
14:15that some people just take for granted.
14:18You can't.
14:19These people are heroes behind me.
14:20And all around here.
14:22We're all heroes here.
14:24God bless them.
14:25Well, whether or not we're in a position to make arrests in Mexico, which is what you're
14:42asking, is not something that I'm at liberty to speak about right now.
14:47But thank you for the question.
14:49You keep going.
14:55Do you think the president's come up right now?
14:56Yes.
14:57Do you think something that is planned to be shared about?
15:01No, no.
15:03This seizure is not planned in terms of anyone's schedule other than the schedule of getting
15:09it up the high seas, getting it here into Houston, getting it off the ships, and, you know,
15:15locking it down so that we prevent it from going to the cartel.
15:20It's got nothing to do with politics.
15:21Nothing.
15:22Other than the fact that this is the first president who decided that the Sinaloa cartel
15:29is a foreign terrorist organization that gives us the ability to move quickly and gives us
15:35the ability to seize property anywhere in the world if it is connected to one of these
15:41organizations.
15:43Yeah.
15:43Oh, yeah.
15:49Let me be very clear.
15:51This is the hard part.
15:53Finding the Americans who are violating the law is the easy part.
15:58So don't think you're going to get away with it and make a quick few bucks and no one will
16:02know.
16:02We know.
16:03You'd be amazed at what we know.
16:05We may be following you now, waiting for you to go to the next guy.
16:09We may be watching you and not ready to take you down.
16:13So don't risk it because you're going to jail.
16:21Yeah.
16:21Go ahead, Todd.
16:22This is the largest seizure.
16:23Todd, over here.
16:25Yeah.
16:25Take your question.
16:26Yes.
16:26This is the largest seizure of any precursor chemical ever in the history of the United
16:31States.
16:31So to the U.S. attorney's point, you know, President Trump has made sure that these criminal
16:37organizations that are now designated foreign terrorist groups, they're giving us the ability
16:42to go ahead and track these precursors before they even get here.
16:46So I think the key to it is not only is it the largest seizure in the history of U.S.
16:51law enforcement, but this just shows that we were able to stop a threat before it actually
16:55came on to U.S. soil.
16:57And that's the key part of this, I think.
16:58Yeah, yeah, to have the ability to stop it when previously we could not under other
17:04administrations.
17:06It's recognizing the danger to America.
17:10All right, everyone.
17:25Yeah, I'm going to stay with this.
17:27This is key because, to the U.S. attorney's point, we need to be focused on what the men
17:32and women of law enforcement do.
17:34So the men and women of HSI are out here serving this criminal warrant, and we're going to do
17:38this nationwide, whether it be international trafficking, human trafficking, any type of
17:43criminal immigration enforcement operations, ICE and HSI will be all over every major U.S.
17:47city, so you can count on that.
17:56That's exactly what I said they would ask.
17:58That is very good.
18:01There's not a lot I'm going to tell you about how we go about finding out about this.
18:05Does it put a dent in?
18:07Absolutely, it does.
18:08Are they a big organization?
18:10Absolutely.
18:10But the way I look at this is that every life saved.
18:15And again, imagine bodies where those barrels are, because that's not too much to imagine
18:21and visualize.
18:23So will they recoup?
18:26Maybe.
18:26It'll take them a while.
18:28And how we find out about this, if I told you, then they'd know, and that wouldn't be good.
18:32Thanks, everybody.
18:35I'm not telling you where they were in two separate.
18:41Yeah, we seized it on the high seas.
18:48And that's it.
18:50Thank you for your questions.
18:51Thanks for being here.
18:52Really, we appreciate it.
18:53Take care.
18:54All right.
19:02I'm good.
19:04I'm good.
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