FBI Indianapolis and Homeland Security Investigations are leading a new Homeland Security Task Force that brings together agencies across the country to target major criminal organizations.
The effort is designed to coordinate investigations involving cartels, foreign terrorist groups, and transnational gangs involved in major crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, human trafficking, extortion, and large-scale drug smuggling.
The initiative will combine federal, state, and local resources in all 50 states and U.S. territories with the primary goal of disrupting organized networks that operate across borders and pose threats to U.S. public safety.
Timothy O’Malley, special agent in charge of FBI Indianapolis, said the task force is intended to send a clear warning to violent groups.
He said agencies involved in the effort will work to identify and stop organizations that target American communities.
Matthew Scarpino, special agent in charge of HSI Chicago, said the program will focus on drug cartels and other groups viewed as national security threats.
He said the expanded coordination is meant to strengthen investigations and protect communities.
U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler of the Southern District of Indiana said the scale of criminal activity tied to international groups requires a multiagency response.
Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor of the Northern District of Indiana said the agencies involved will pursue cases against organizations that threaten residents.
He said the coordinated structure is intended to ensure suspects are brought to justice.
The Crossroads of America Homeland Security Task Force includes the FBI; HSI; the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for both Indiana districts; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Internal Revenue Service; and the Indiana State Police.
It also includes the Indiana National Guard, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Plainfield Police Department.
The FBI said the new task force is expected to serve as a national model for protecting critical infrastructure and responding to developing security threats.
The FBI, in early November, opened a hub of the national task force in Dallas.
The Dallas task force is unique because it is co-led by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations-Dallas, with strong support from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in Dallas.
The approach is putting the government enforcement crosshairs on foreign terrorist organizations and transnational gangs that have illegally sent operatives inside the U.S. to recruit more criminals to commit serious crimes against Americans, according to the FBI.
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