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  • 4 months ago
During a press conference on Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke about the prevalence of human smuggling operations in the U.S.
Transcript
00:00First for you, or I'm not sure you're going to do the Tampa part of it first, but when it comes to Tampa, do you have any idea as to why they set up shop here in Tampa?
00:11And then the other question about Tampa would just be how much of this is going on right now?
00:15This seems like a pretty deep thing that was happening here.
00:19Can you just start throwing darts in a map and find these kinds of groups?
00:22Can I start in on that first?
00:24Because I know you're a Tampa reporter, and that's why I think it was so important to have it here, because people are expecting this in Texas and big cities, and Tampa is a big city, but it is everywhere.
00:36It touches, I think, every city in our country.
00:39And traveling around this country, it's everywhere.
00:42It's everywhere you go, because our borders were wide open, and guns, drugs, gangs were coming in, terrorist organizations, into every city in our country.
00:55We arrested very recently, 20 minutes outside of our nation's capital, one of the top MS-13 members in the entire country.
01:03One of them was arrested also in Portland, Oregon.
01:06So it's very organized.
01:08They are spread throughout this country, and U.S. Attorney Kehoe, I'll let you take it from Tampa.
01:14With regard to Tampa, this has been going on for a significant period of time.
01:18Our investigation takes us back to at least 2021.
01:22And these people aren't some individuals from far-off areas.
01:26They're from neighborhoods right here in Tampa, from addresses that you know that you could pass in public or walk on the street.
01:33Why did they set up here?
01:34Because they started up in 2021, operated undetected, and let's be perfectly honest, as General Bondi said, $18 million in an entity that was moving in a tremendous speed, but in a relatively short period of time.
01:50$7 million going through Zelle alone.
01:53So why did they come here?
01:55Because they lived here, they were here, they set up and did business here, and it was profitable.
01:58How were they availing themselves of different services, schools, and parks?
02:03I mean, were they living otherwise ordinary lives?
02:06From all intents and purposes, I can't answer that question factually, and I don't want to mislead you, but I don't have any information to say that they weren't.
02:13I can't say that they were sending their children to local schools, but they were certainly living here and doing business here.
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