Homeland Security Investigations Shared Leads for $1.2B in Counterfeits
DHS Homeland Security Investigations' congressional engagement led to the introduction of bills that would:
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- provide more ways to forfeit seized chemicals that were destined for opioid manufacturing
- provide HSI with a seizure fund to support investigations into sanctioned Iranian proxies
- establish a trade crimes unit at DOJ (see 2412030066).
These incremental victories were included in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division's annual report, released last week. The bills haven't passed Congress yet.
The report also noted that the Intellectual Property Rights Center helped the HSI office in Las Vegas to counter Super Bowl counterfeits, which led to about 4,600 counterfeit items being seized.
In fiscal year 2024, the IPR center also expanded its collaboration with pharmaceutical companies "to target and disrupt transnational shipping routes that use free trade ports to move illicit pharmaceuticals," known as Operation Apothecary. The investigators believe some of this activity is happening in Western Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and IPR trained officers in those regions to identify criminal organizations conducting illicit pharmaceutical trade.
A Trade Enforcement Coordination Center was launched in fiscal year 2024 at headquarters, to support HSI field offices that work with CBP to interdict inbound cargo that violates U.S. customs laws. The HQ coordination center "focuses on effective lead and case development to support field offices and provides an enhanced agency response to ongoing trade violations that threaten the U.S. economy," the report said. It supported 38 criminal investigations, and shared leads on thousands of commercial entries that were worth more than $1.2 billion.
This was the second year of a Government Supply Chain Investigations Unit at HSI, which is trying to prevent counterfeit and substandard goods being purchased by the U.S. government. The report detailed the unit's work:
- Operation Gung Ho: Identifying and stopping counterfeit and noncompliant weapon components from entering the U.S. supply chain.
- Operation Genuine Valor: Safeguarding veterans' health by ensuring pharmaceuticals, medical devices and surgical supplies purchased through federal contracts are genuine.
- Operation Roll Back: Leveraging data from e-commerce platforms to identify third-party vendors who have engaged in counterfeiting and other intellectual property rights violations so that U.S. procurement officers don't buy from them.
- Operation Chain Reaction: Trying to stop counterfeit microelectronics from entering DOD and other U.S. government agency supply chains.