STRATEGIC GOAL TWO: Enforce Federal Criminal Laws

As a result of the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296), the law enforcement functions of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms transferred to Department of Justice's (DOJ). The mission of the renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is to deter and investigate violations of law relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives and arson; areas that could be monitored under Strategic Goal Two. Although ATF is not yet reflected in the Department's Strategic Plan, a separate section (Appendix A) addresses the ATF FY 2003 and FY 2004 performance plan and related resources (budget and personnel).

At the heart of DOJ's mission is our responsibility to enforce the Nation's federal laws through the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses. The array of areas for which we are responsible are diverse and challenging, including: terrorism, drug related crime, violent crimes, firearms offenses, white-collar crime, child exploitation, cybercrime, and public corruption.

Adding to this challenge is the complexity of the American criminal justice system. The law enforcement responsibility in the United States is shared and addressed cooperatively among DOJ organizations, and other federal, tribal, state, and local agencies. Several DOJ component organizations share primary responsibility for enforcing the Nation's criminal laws. In addition, the increased globalization of crime requires the Department to strengthen cooperation with international law enforcement organizations.

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has responsibility to investigate over 200 categories of federal crimes, and monitor activities that threaten the Nation's security. The FBI also provides law enforcement assistance and other specialized support when required.
  
  
• The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has responsibility to enforce the controlled substance laws and regulations of the United States, and to bring to justice those organizations and individuals who are involved in the growth, manufacture, and distribution of those substances destined for illicit traffic in the United States.
  
  
• The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program is the cornerstone of the Attorney General's drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and their related enterprises. OCDETF provides the overall strategy and funding to achieve a coordinated approach by federal agents and prosecutors with support from state and local government.
  
  
• The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is charged with enforcing the Nation's immigration laws. Although Strategic Goal Five focuses on DOJ's immigration efforts, the interrelationship between immigration issues and criminal offenses also makes INS an important contributor to the fight against violent crime, drug related crime, and terrorism.
  
  
• The United States Attorneys (USA) and the Criminal Division (CRM) are also key players in these goals as they prosecute violators of federal criminal law, seek punishment of those guilty of unlawful behavior, and represent the United States in other specialized litigation. Both are committed to dismantling major drug organizations, targeting terrorist acts and violent crime, and prosecuting high priority white-collar crime nationwide. The USA and CRM play key roles in providing leadership and direction to the combined federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement effort.

In addition, the Antitrust (ATR), Civil (CIV), Civil Rights (CRT), Environment and Natural Resources (ENRD) and Tax (TAX) Divisions perform critical and specialized functions in prosecuting violators of the Nation's antitrust, consumer, civil rights, environmental, wildlife, and tax laws. The priority performance goals of these divisions are split between Strategic Goals Two and Four, as appropriate.

Lastly, while we continue to focus on violent crime, white-collar crime, and illegal drugs, we must confront the sophistication of criminals that will challenge our ability to prevent and solve crimes, and bring criminals to justice. We will work aggressively to combat gun crimes. We will also face the complexities of fighting cybercrime and international crimes. We will confront these issues recognizing that the Department is a crime-fighting partner with other federal, state, tribal, and local agencies working strategically to define our roles and coordinate our efforts to ensure that our scarce resources provide maximum impact in our crime-fighting efforts.

DOJ's principal law enforcement investigative agencies will counter violent crime by emphasizing targeted enforcement strategies. The ultimate goal of the Department's organized crime program is to dismantle the most significant organized crime enterprises through investigation and prosecution. Our principal enforcement efforts are currently directed against: (1) the 22 active La Cosa Nostra (LCN) and native Italian organized crime families operating in the United States; (2) the 21 most significant Russian/Eastern European/Eurasian criminal enterprises (more commonly referred to as the Russian Organized Crime) operating in the United States and elsewhere; and (3) approximately 25 Asian organized crime groups operating in the United States, including Chinese Triads, criminally influenced Tongs and various gangs. The transnational activities of these groups will also be addressed to the extent that such activities impact the United States. A related goal is to undercut the strong financial underpinnings of these large criminal enterprises by placing renewed emphasis on efforts to prevent the laundering of their illegal proceeds and to forfeit their assets, thereby seeking to permanently cripple their operations.

Continued commitment of resources for international liaison and enforcement efforts will help counter the foreign-based aspect of emerging threats such as Russian, Eastern European, Asian, Italian, and other organized crime groups. The increasing international nexus of this new breed of criminal organization means that the corruption of key officials in major industries, and the operation of large-scale money laundering schemes, through bank stock exchanges and commodities markets, can flourish without regard to national boundaries.

Another growing threat is posed by emerging organized crime enterprises, or so-called "non-traditional" crime organizations, that have rapidly expanding membership, are flourishing in the drug underworld, and often employ violent means to establish themselves. The FBI and the DEA have adopted new technologies to improve analytical support for investigations and have strengthened their intelligence base about these non-traditional groups and their leadership in order to prevent them from gaining a stronger foothold.

Efforts to curtail gang-related violence and the illegal use of firearms are other major features of this plan. In response to a surge in juvenile and gang-related violent crime between 1985 and 1995, the FBI developed its National Gang Strategy. As part of this gang strategy, federal law enforcement agents continue to form multi-agency task forces that include state and local police officers. Collectively, these teams are able to achieve results, which no agency could do on its own.

Similarly, the DEA will deploy its Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET) to help meet emerging drug crises in particular localities and in collaboration with the National Crime Prevention Council and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. DEA will continue to provide anti-drug training to community leaders following their MET deployment where appropriate. The training is a grass-roots effort to help communities plan, organize, implement and evaluate a prevention program. In addition, the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) will update its National Street Gang Survey Report, a key reference for enforcement agencies. At the district and headquarters levels, the EOUSA and CRM play a leadership role in developing and refining the DOJ's violent crime reduction strategies and increasing cooperation between state, local, and federal enforcement authorities.

Project Safe Neighborhoods is a comprehensive national strategy that has created local partnerships to effectively enforce existing gun laws. The strategy promotes cooperation to determine where gun criminals can be most effectively prosecuted and punished. Project Safe Neighborhoods gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that a specific community faces.

Another on-going initiative will address the rising incidence of crimes against children, including abduction cases, sexual exploitation offenses, and the production of child pornography. DOJ' s multi-agency, multi-disciplinary teams address problems, including the growing use of the Internet and commercial on-line subscription services, to pursue related crimes.

Coordinating the Department's law enforcement activities ensure that the objectives of the Department's investigative agencies are fully coordinated and complementary, that intelligence is shared, and that administrative practices are consistent. The Department will develop and implement, under the guidance of each U.S. Attorney, a District Enforcement Strategy that targets both national and local priorities and identifies how all parts of the system can interact more effectively to meet the needs of justice. In addition, the Department will identify and coordinate cases in which a multi-district prosecution effort is needed.

America faces many challenges due to the trafficking of illegal drugs. Illegal drug trafficking and use weakens our society; violent drug trafficking groups erode the quality of life in our communities; and drug trafficking provides some terrorist groups a steady source of income to finance their operations. The ultimate goal of law enforcement efforts in this area is to reduce the availability of illicit drugs in the U.S.

This Performance Plan supports the President's Anti-Drug Abuse Policy and is consistent with the general guidance of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Department's Drug Control Strategic Plan. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program is the vehicle for implementing the Attorney's General's drug strategy to reduce the drug supply available within the United States. These plans articulate that our primary investigative and prosecutorial objective is to curtail the availability of illegal drugs through the disruption and dismantlement of drug trafficking organizations, as well as forfeiting illegal proceeds and their economic foundations at the national and international levels.

DOJ will strengthen its efforts to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations by continuing to increase the analytical capacity of each investigative agency and the Special Operations Division (SOD). The Department, working with ONDCP and the Intelligence Community, will continue to actively support the work of the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), and the Financial Crimes Intelligence Center (FinCen).

The Department will strengthen its programs to target drug smuggling organizations that traffic across the Southern borders, and from Europe and Asia. Since September 11, 2001, the Department has strengthened its programs focus on targeting drug organizations using the Northern border as their transit zone for drugs and drug proceeds. All of these programs are intended to link federal, state and local investigations domestically and to facilitate multilateral enforcement efforts abroad.

To combat foreign intelligence operations against U.S. interests, DOJ, through the FBI, will emphasize effective intelligence gathering and analytical capability to evaluate foreign intelligence threats. The FBI's counterintelligence program conducts, manages, and supports investigations which collect, analyze, and exploit intelligence in order to identify and neutralize the intelligence activities of foreign powers and their agents that adversely affect U.S. national security or have a substantial economic impact on the nation.

The 1990's saw great changes in the global intelligence environment, patterned after the changes in the geopolitical environment. There has been an increase in the number of intelligence actors, both at the state and individual levels. To achieve their goals, foreign countries are engaged in long-term efforts designed to gain critical intelligence relating to sensitive U.S. information. Our adversaries will continuously strive to impede investigative operations, obtain sensitive information, initiate and implement reprisal actions against DOJ personnel or facilities, and take illegal advantage of any opportunity presented to them.

DOJ's plan for reducing white collar crime is based on the premise that a strong deterrent capability is required to prevent criminals from defrauding and thus weakening the Nation's industries and institutions. In monetary terms, the annual loss to American citizens and businesses is conservatively estimated in the billions of dollars.

The criminal threat originates from several sources and may have a variety of purposes and targets including: the financial markets; the health care field; public officials open to corruption; communications facilities; critical infrastructure; computers storing sensitive proprietary, financial and personal data; valuable intellectual properties; international commerce; and telemarketing, insurance, commodities, retirement system, and other businesses susceptible to fraud.

The Department will devote considerable resources to countering white collar crime matters involving corporate fraud. The President has designated the Deputy Attorney General to lead the inter-agency Corporate Fraud Task Force in order to ensure that this top priority receives the full attention of a vested federal law enforcement community. The Department will also work against health care fraud; financial institution fraud, telemarketing, Internet, and other mass-marketing fraud; public corruption and government fraud; high technology crime; computer crime and the theft of intellectual property; and international price fixing cartels.

The Department also addresses environmental and wildlife crime issues focusing on the endangerment of the environment and public health, fraud in the environmental testing industry, smuggling and poaching of protected species, exploitation and abuse of marine resources through illegal commercial fishing, and related criminal activity.

Violations of the Internal Revenue Code drain the federal fisc and undermine public trust in the voluntary tax system. The Tax Division utilizes criminal prosecutions to ensure that the Nation's internal revenue laws are fairly and uniformly applied and the public complies with the Nation's tax laws. In this way our accomplishments contribute significantly and directly to efforts of the Administration and Congress to protect the federal fisc from intentional false tax returns and evasion schemes. For all stages of case investigation, review, litigation and appeals the Tax Division's attorneys are guided by the principles of fair and uniform treatment for all categories of taxpayers.

The Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division works closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Labor, the Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorneys Offices, and Non-Government Organizations to identify victims, many of who are women and children of illegal trafficking. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, enacted into law in 2000, expanded the scope of federal enforcement authority over slavery offenses.

RESOURCE COMPARISON: Strategic Goal to Total DOJ $ and FTE

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Required Skills: The Department requires skilled agents, attorneys, analysts, and linguists. Linguists are critical to supporting criminal and national security investigations and intelligence success. This goal requires the skills and abilities of experienced attorneys and law enforcement professionals, DEA relies on experienced prosecutors, agents, investigators, intelligence analysts, and linguists are critical to supporting Major Drug Trafficking Organization investigations. In addition, DEA must have skilled Special Agents, Diversion Investigators, and forensic chemists. The majority of positions require analysis and writing skills.

Successful accomplishment of this goal requires highly skilled agents, analysts and engineers with sophisticated knowledge of computer technology and computer systems, as well as an array of highly complex software and hardware systems. The Antitrust Division requires experienced attorneys, economists, paralegals and support staff. Attorneys experienced in complex, international investigations are particularly valued. The Tax Division requires experienced trial and appellate attorneys and support staff. That Division also requires some specialized experience to include substantive tax issues and tax procedures; search warrants of computer stored financial data; sentencing guidelines in financial crimes; obtaining foreign evidence and information and knowledge about international agreements to achieve international tax compliance, such as tax treaties, mutual legal assistance treaties and extradition treaties. The Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) requires attorneys, particularly litigators experienced in criminal and appellate environmental law, in addition to experienced legal support staff.

Information Technology Utilized: FBI programs in this area are supported by: the Integrated Statistical Reporting and Analysis Application (ISRAA), a centralized database which tracks statistical case accomplishment from inception to closure; the Automated Case Support System (ACS), a database which captures all information pertaining to the administration of cases; a separate case management system maintained by the Innocent Images National Initiative (IINI); IIIA, a centralized database that tracks foreign activity; data collected through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA); NICS, a national name check system that compares the identity of firearm purchasers against several databases to determine eligibility for firearm purchase; and internal databases that support the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC). ENRD relies upon its version of the DOJ Justice Consolidated Office Network (JCON) and its Case Management System. DEA relies on FIREBIRD, the primary office automation infrastructure that supports the full spectrum of DEA's global operations; and MERLIN, an advanced intelligence system designed to support the classified processing needs of Special Agents and Intelligence Research Specialists operating worldwide.

In addition, DEA has developed the Priority Target Activity and Resource Reporting System (PTARRS), a subordinate automated system specifically to link the resources applied and the results achieved against priority targeted organizations. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) maintains a management information database system that captures information on investigations and prosecutions.

The Antitrust Division relies upon its Matter Tracking System and companion user interfaces; office systems, including networks and infrastructure; litigation support tools and applications, including those for courtroom presentations; and data storage capacity related to all of these technologies. The Tax Division relies upon the Justice Consolidated Office Network system and recently implemented TaxDoc Case Management System. ENRD relies upon the Justice Consolidated Office Network system and its Case Management System.

PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

There are no program evaluations planned for FY 2003.

Background/Program Objectives:
The FBI, working closely with DOJ prosecutors, will continue its intensive efforts against the threats of active La Cosa Nostra (LCN), native Italian, and emerging Asian and Eurasian criminal enterprises. The Organized Crime Section, through the use of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute, targets the entire entity responsible for the crime problem, the organization. This is accomplished by charging the organization's members as a group with a wide range of crimes committed by its members in violation of local, state, and federal laws.

Organized Criminal Enterprises are structured to ensure that their leadership is far removed from the criminal activity, making it difficult to link overt crimes to the leaders of the organization. Moreover, even if key individuals are removed, the strength of these organizations often allows the enterprise to be sustained. This situation requires the FBI to develop strategies targeted primarily at dismantling the organization, as opposed to merely removing key individuals.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
The FBI will provide oversight of ACE investigations to ensure that the Enterprise Theory of Investigation and sophisticated investigative techniques are utilized to order to disrupt and dismantle targeted ACEs. Specifically, the FBI will provide appropriate training to field agents working Asian Organized Crime (AOC) cases, monitor and assess investigative progress through regular communications and case meetings among all AOC field staff, initiate undercover operations where necessary, and participate in multi-agency information sharing sessions. In addition, the FBI will apply the Enterprise Theory of Investigation, an integrated investigative approach that utilizes the entire range of sophisticated investigative techniques to dismantle ECEs.

Crosscutting Activities:
The FBI, U.S. Attorneys and the Criminal Division continue to work together in dismantling traditional organized crime groups and to ensure that a new generation of criminal enterprises does not emerge utilizing more advanced technology and new crime schemes. Law enforcement personnel from DOJ and other federal agencies including: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF); the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and the United States Customs Service (USCS), combine their expertise and resources with state and local investigators to meet these objectives.

Background/Program Objectives:
The mission of the FBI's Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Program is to reduce the incidence and impact of crimes of violence and of crimes against property that affect individuals, organizations, and communities. The Program's mission involves the proactive identification, disruption, and dismantlement of criminal enterprises, as well as the swift, efficient, and measured response to serious violent criminal acts, which call upon core FBI jurisdiction, responsibilities, and competencies.

Research shows that victimization costs $105 billion annually in property and productivity losses and for medical expenses. This amounts to an annual "crime tax" of roughly $425 for each United States citizen. From the business owner who must pay "protection" money to neighborhood gangs; to families who live like hostages within their own homes, afraid to venture out; to the residents of Indian Country, the harmful impact of violent crime on victims and on society collectively is both psychologically and physically debilitating.

The FBI strives to reduce the level of violent crime by dismantling gangs identified as being the most dangerous. The FBI maintains a "Top 30" list of these gangs each year, selected based upon the extent to which each gang's activity is multi-jurisdictional, violent, has a deleterious effect on the community, and is affiliated with a group identified in the FBI's National Gang Strategy. The FBI's objective is to dismantle 15 gangs that appear on this list over a 5-year period (an average of 3 per year).

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
In FY 2004, DOJ will target and respond to particular local crime problems involving violence and gang activity, including drug-related crimes. To achieve this objective, DOJ will strive to reduce the level of violent crime by taking violent criminals and gangs off our streets through cooperative enforcement efforts with state and local law enforcement programs such as the FBI's Safe Streets Task Forces and DEA's Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET). DOJ will accomplish this objective dismantling 15 of the most dangerous gangs over a 5-year period. Cases will be selected based upon the multi-jurisdictional nature, violent activity, affiliation with a group identified in the National Gang Strategy, and/or degree of deleterious effect on the community. These cases are identified at the beginning of each fiscal year and always consist of the 30 most dangerous gangs fitting the criteria above. As cases and investigations are closed, new gangs meeting the established criteria are rotated in to maintain a base of 30.

Crosscutting Activities:
The FBI, USNCB, DEA, USMS, U.S. Attorneys and the Criminal Division work with state and local law enforcement agencies to reduce the level of violent crime associated with these targeted gangs.

Background/Program Objectives:
The Department of Justice implements gun violence reduction strategies through its Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a comprehensive national strategy that creates multi-agency partnerships to effectively enforce existing gun laws and reduce the incidence of gun violence across the country. The strategy provides more options to prosecutors, allowing them to utilize local, state, and federal laws to ensure that criminals who commit gun crimes face tough sentences. It is also designed to deter gun crime by publicizing these enforcement efforts in the community. Project Safe Neighborhoods gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that its community faces. Currently each district is in the process of gathering and utilizing relevant crime data to develop a strategic plan to target the illegal use, possession, and trafficking of firearms. Each district is tasked with developing meaningful measurements of the impact of its strategy and will report on both the plan and its impact every 6 months.

In addition to the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, the Department is tasked with implementing certain provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act. This act requires Federal Firearm Licensees (FFL) to request background checks on individuals attempting to purchase a firearm, and required the establishment of a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that any FFL may contact by telephone, or other electronic means, for information to be supplied immediately on whether the receipt of a firearm by a prospective transferee would violate federal or state law. Although NICS provides a definitive response (i.e., "proceed" or "deny") to 85 percent of inquiries by FFLs within 4 minutes, the Act allows NICS 3 business days to make its determination. If NICS does not contact the FFL before the expiration of the third business day with a definitive response to proceed or deny, the FFL may transfer the firearm without waiting for a response from NICS. If NICS receives information after the 3 day period has expired that would indicate a prohibited person has acquired a firearm from an FFL, NICS immediately refers this information to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) for investigation and possible retrieval of the firearm. All NICS denials (i.e., NICS determinations that receipt of a firearm by the potential transferee would violate state or federal law) are referred to ATF for investigation and, where appropriate, are referred to the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for prosecution.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
Project Safe Neighborhoods is a comprehensive and strategic approach to reduce gun violence across the country. A centerpiece of this initiative is to create multi-agency partnerships in every district that will effectively enforce existing gun laws, target violent offenders, and deter gun crime by publicizing these enforcement efforts in the community. In every district, the PSN partners have been given resources to assist them in evaluating the nature of the local gun violence problem and to develop meaningful measurements of the impact of the strategies developed. This accountability component is designed to keep the district-based partnership abreast of changes occurring in the community, to assist them in evaluating their efforts in light of those changes, and to provide them with an opportunity to retool their gun plans to address emerging issues. Many of the PSN strategies developed to date have focused on those communities, towns, and cities that have been most affected by gun violence. Thus, in order to measure our performance at the national level, we will report on the change in gun violence in these targeted areas, rather than entire states or districts.

Crosscutting Activities:
Project Safe Neighborhoods brings together the law enforcement community at the local, state, and federal level. Our United States Attorneys' Offices and our federal investigative agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are coordinating their efforts with local police, sheriffs, and prosecutors. Non-law enforcement agencies as well as community and faith-based organizations are playing active roles in these gun violence reduction partnerships. At the national level, the PSN initiative is coordinated by a team represented by numerous Department components, with input from a number of national organizations.

Background/Program Objectives:
International law enforcement cooperation is critical to addressing the dramatic growth in the scope of transnational crime such as terrorism, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and cybercrime and the immediate threat it poses to the U.S. and the global community. The Department is increasing its emphasis on cooperation with foreign law enforcement and criminal justice officials to make it easier to obtain and provide information and evidence needed to pursue cases against transnational criminals. Working jointly with foreign counterparts is a realistic way to achieve the goals of dismantling international criminal organizations, locating fugitives, and establishing mutually recognized processes for ensuring criminals are brought to justice primarily through the extradition process coordinated and supervised by Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs (OIA).

OIA is the Central Authority for the United States under 40 Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) in force and a number of multilateral conventions. As such, OIA makes and receives all MLAT requests and is responsible for the drafting by federal, state, or local prosecutors of requests for bank records or other evidence abroad. OIA insures that the requests are presented to the proper foreign Central Authority, and presses for the execution of the request in a timely manner. OIA also coordinates the execution in the U.S. of requests from foreign countries under the MLATs.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
As our network of international law enforcement treaties has grown in recent years, we have begun to focus our efforts on implementing our existing treaties, with a view to making them as effective as possible, rather than on negotiating many new instruments. The legal processes leading up to a fugitive's surrender include extradition and waiver of extradition (the U.S. has extradition treaty relationships with approximately 120 countries), deportation, expulsion and voluntary return.

Crosscutting Activities:
DOJ works closely with the State Department in negotiating law enforcement related treaties and agreements and pursuing the extradition process. DOJ also deals with Treasury in international money laundering matters and with the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the development of strategies for domestic and transnational drug trafficking.

Background/Program Objectives:
The Department of Justice focuses its drug law enforcement efforts on reducing the availability of drugs by targeting the largest drug supply and money laundering networks for dismantlement of their entire infrastructure, from international supply and national transportation cells, to regional and local distribution organizations. The OCDETF program has been designated by the Attorney General as the centerpiece of his drug strategy. The program coordinates multi-agency and multi-region investigations, targeting the most serious drug trafficking threats. The OCDETF program functions through the efforts of the U.S. Attorneys; elements of the Department's Criminal Division; the investigative, intelligence, and support staffs of DEA, FBI, INS, and USMS; the investigative support of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Internal Revenue Service; the U.S. Customs Service; the U.S. Coast Guard; as well as state and local law enforcement agencies. The goal of each OCDETF investigation is to determine connections to related investigations nationwide in order to identify and dismantle the entire structure of the drug trafficking organization (DTO). A major emphasis of OCDETF investigations is to disrupt financial dealings and dismantle the financial infrastructure that supports the DTO. As the Attorney General noted during a national conference in December 2001, "Sophisticated drug trafficking organizations mirror the Fortune 500. They have similar business structures, distribution systems, and profitability - laundering an estimated $300 - $500 billion a year. Just as the Department seeks to dismantle terrorist operations by cutting off their access to money, so too must we combat the sophisticated financial infrastructure of drug trafficking operations."

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
OCDETF has developed and implemented several changes to enhance the program's ability to achieve its goals. These developments include the establishment of a consolidated list of priority drug and money laundering targets, new and revised program guidelines, and new field guidance for agents and prosecutors to enhance effectiveness of OCDETF investigations.

Based on the new guidance, the OCDETF regions are accountable for ensuring that OCDETF resources are used toward the development of coordinated, multi?regional investigations and not for lower priority drug targets that could be investigated by a single federal agency or solely by state and local law enforcement. Thus, street level drug cases, without developed connections to higher-level organizations, are to be addressed by other law enforcement resources. To meet this challenge, each of the nine OCDETF Regions have developed a strategic plan that identifies the major drug trafficking and related money laundering networks operating within its region.

In addition, the Attorney General's drug strategy places increased emphasis on conducting financial investigations as an integral part of each OCDETF investigation. Accordingly, all OCDETF investigations must now include a financial investigation that extends beyond merely the seizure of cars or other personal property of the main defendants. Although initiation of the financial investigation is not a prerequisite to OCDETF approval, the supervising AUSA's will be required to certify that financial investigative steps have commenced within 6 months after OCDETF approval.

While OCDETF cases encompass the drug efforts of the FBI and much of DEA, they do not represent the majority of cases worked by law enforcement at various levels throughout the U.S., nor do they represent the sum total of the DOJ effort. Therefore, it is important to highlight the fact that there are many entities operating simultaneously at various levels, each with their specific area of focus and strategic approach, which contribute to a collective impact on the illicit drug supply within the U.S.

Crosscutting Activities:
Interagency cooperation is key to successful drug enforcement. Given the sophisticated, multi-jurisdictional nature of drug trafficking operations, controlled largely by criminal organizations in Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, the Department has developed a number of programs through which agencies can coordinate the counter-narcotics investigations with international, federal, state and local counterparts. Among these are the following:

• SOD: A DEA-led national multi-agency program with participation from FBI, Criminal Division, IRS, USCS, and Department of Defense, that supports ongoing investigations by producing detailed and comprehensive data analyses of the activities of Priority Drug Trafficking Organizations (PDTOs) which include CPOT targets.
  
  
• OCDETF: A program that joins federal, state and local law enforcement together with the United States Attorneys, in a comprehensive and coordinated attack against the most significant transnational and multi-district drug trafficking organizations.
  
  
• The Executive Office for OCDETF and ONDCP work collaboratively to encourage the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task forces to actively participate in OCDETF quality investigations.
  
  
• DOJ and the Department of Transportation/U.S. Coast Guard work together to develop evidence to prosecute the maritime drug smuggling cases where U.S. forces have participated in the apprehension of the perpetrators.
  
  
• The NDIC assembles and synthesizes intelligence from federal, state, regional, and local law enforcement and the Intelligence Community to prepare its annual "National Drug Threat Assessment."
  
  
• EPIC, a national multi-agency intelligence center, acts as a clearinghouse for tactical drug related intelligence to support law enforcement at the federal, state, local and international levels.

Background/Program Objectives:
In the past, the drug crime efforts of the DEA and FBI were reported separately, due in part to the size, complexity and significance of the drug trafficking organizations involved. While there were legitimate reasons for separate reporting, it created confusion and lacked Departmental focus. Consequently, in FY 2001, the Attorney General directed the Department to develop a single national list of major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. In response, DEA, the FBI, and the U.S. Customs Service, with input from the intelligence community and other OCDETF member agencies, identified 53 international command and control organizations representing the most significant drug organizations threatening the U.S. These targets, titled the Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) list, represent the first time federal agencies have worked together to develop a single target list. This list reflects the most significant international narcotic supply and related money laundering organizations, poly?drug traffickers, clandestine drug manufacturers and producers, and major drug transporters supplying the U.S. The list, as well as linked organizations, will be updated periodically to remain current.

The efforts to disrupt and dismantle the CPOT organizations will be primarily accomplished via multi-agency and multi-regional investigations directed by DEA and the FBI. These investigations focus on the development of intelligence-driven multi-region investigations to identify and target national, international, and regional drug trafficking organizations that play significant roles in the production, transportation, distribution, or financial or other support of large scale drug trafficking. DEA and the FBI's ultimate objective is to dismantle these organizations so that reestablishment of the same criminal organization is impossible.

It is important to note that although DEA and FBI have both identified CPOT-linked organizations for dismantlerment, their accomplishments are not mutually exclusive. Given the size, complexity, and the numerous linkages associated with these organizations, it is probable that both the FBI and DEA have contributed to the dismantlement of a CPOT-linked organization.

DEA, through the utilization of its Priority Drug Targeting Organization (PDTO) Program, identifies and targets the most significant drug trafficking organizations operating at the International, National/Regional and Local levels. This is keeping with DEA's mission to combat drug trafficking at all levels. DEA's PDTO program is more expansive than CPOT, since it also includes local and regional drug organizations significantly impacting the drug supply in its 21 nationwide field divisions. PDTO investigations utilize intelligence derived from on-going PDTO and related investigations to identify major drug trafficking organizations to include the organization's distribution network, structure and members in order to target the highest level of the organization. The objective of each PDTO investigation is to dismantle/disrupt the identified organization, arrest the organization's leaders, distributors, importers, and facilitators, and seize and forfeit all assets associated with the organization. DEA management has directed that all PDTO investigations be coordinated with appropriate DEA Field Divisions, to include the Special Operations Division (SOD), DEA's Country Offices, and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

The FBI also focuses on the domestic cells of international drug trafficking criminal enterprises that have the most adverse impact on U.S. national interests. These criminal enterprises have previously been included on the FBI's National Priority Target List (NPTL), which the FBI will discontinue when it begins to track its targets through the CPOT list. The FBI's contribution to the CPOT will be based upon crime surveys and threat assessments conducted by its field offices. Field offices will be required to expand the scope of their drug investigations and attempt to link them to the criminal enterprises on the CPOT list.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
DEA has developed a strategy for targeting, disrupting and/or dismantling the most significant PDTOs and linked DTOs that present the greatest threat to the U.S. In order to disrupt or dismantle PDTOs, all organizational elements must be identified and targeted, including producers and/or suppliers, transporters, distributors, and facilitators. Due to the increasing decentralization of drug trafficking, not all organizational elements are usually contained within a single PDTO. A decentralized organizational structure affords a great deal of flexibility and protection. For example, the facilitator generally has little or no contact with the rest of the organization, so if the money laundering capability is disrupted, those arrested usually have little information about the remainder of the organization.

In order to ensure that resources are aligned against the significant drug trafficking threats to the U.S., DEA recently completed a Domestic Threat Assessment. Based on this assessment, DEA identified four primary illegal drug threat zones in the U.S.: Overland Arrival Zone, Maritime Arrival Zone, Methamphetamine Zone, and Heroin Zone.

• The Overland Arrival Zone (e.g., Southwest Border) remains the most vulnerable region of the U.S. Interagency assessments report that more than 60 percent of the cocaine entering the U.S. moves across the Southwest Border. In addition, methamphetamine produced in Mexico and multi-ton shipments of marijuana continue to enter the U.S. through the Southwest Border. Transportation PDTOs, which are responsible for moving multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, and kilogram quantities of heroin and methamphetamine, will continue as a major focus. Major sources of supply in Mexico and Colombia utilize these independent transportation groups, which control smuggling of all drug types within their established corridors, to transport their illicit products to distributors throughout the U.S.
  
  
• The Maritime Arrival Zone (e.g., Caribbean Corridor) remains a key transit area for cocaine as well as increasing amounts of heroin and MDMA. Transportation PDTOs, which utilize aircraft, high-speed boats, Dominican freighters, and containerized cargo to transport drug shipments into the U.S. will remain a major focus.
  
  
• The Methamphetamine Zone, which includes the West Coast and the Midwest, has the highest concentration of methamphetamine "super labs" and are supplied with Canadian pseudoephedrine PDTOs transiting through Detroit. PDTOs that supply and transport pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine "super labs" will continue as a major focus.
  
  
• The Heroin Zone includes the Northeast corridor, with New York remaining the primary heroin entry point on the East Coast. The PRIDE program will continue to identify and target Colombian, Dominican, Asian, and Nigerian heroin PDTOs, particularly those with a Central Asian nexus having suspected linkages to terrorist organizations.

PDTO producer/suppliers and transporters also rely on three other types of independent PDTOs and/or DTOs to further their criminal activities. Distributors provide a portion of the illicit drugs to local organized distributors for retail sale in a specific community, and the remainder distributed in other areas throughout the U.S. Non-Financial Facilitators provide services, including protection (corrupt government officials often ensure the safe passage of drug loads) and storage facilities to conceal the illicit drugs/proceeds. Financial Facilitators provide money-laundering services, arranging for bulk shipments of cash from distributors to transporters and sources of supply, and/or provide front money to PDTOs for the purchase and transportation of drugs.

The FBI's drug program is being restructured for several reasons. Recent events, primarily the September 11, 2001 attacks, required the FBI to examine current and future investigative priorities and develop organizational changes to accomplish its new objectives. The FBI, with the approval of Congress, has shifted 567 agents (in FY 2002 and 2003) from drug investigations to counterterrorism, counterintelligence, security, and training functions. This reduction will ultimately affect the number of DTOs identified, disrupted, and dismantled by the FBI.

Crosscutting Activities:
Please see Crosscutting Activities under 2.2A.

Background/Program Objectives:
Foreign intelligence operations directed against the United States reflect the complexity and fluidity of the new world order. While the national goals of traditional rivals have changed, their capabilities and willingness to target traditional objectives, such as national defense information, plans and personnel, have not. At the same time, many of these rivals have increased their activities in other sectors affecting our national interests, such as in economic competitiveness. They join a formidable array of other foreign powers jockeying for economic or political preeminence, the success of whom is dependent upon effective intelligence operations directed against the United States.

Foreign intelligence threats can never be eliminated given that their origin and impetus lie primarily with sovereign states. They are planned, authorized, and financed by government entities beyond our boundaries and beyond the reach of our laws. Measures of success in these areas will gauge the FBI's capacity to detect potential hostile activities by foreign powers against the United States. In addition, the FBI will analyze its record at preventing and defeating these hostile activities in comparison to the best available estimates of the magnitude of foreign intelligence operations.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
The FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence (FCI) Program has recently completed a thorough and wide-ranging internal review of its operations and, as a result, has developed a comprehensive new Counterintelligence strategy. In the coming months, the FCI program will be developing program plans to carry out this strategy. The strategy is predicated on the need for a centralized national direction that facilitates a focus on common priorities and specific objectives in all areas of the country. It also recognizes the need for collaboration with other members of the U.S. Intelligence Community. This new strategy will enable the program to more effectively combat the intelligence threats facing the United States.

Crosscutting Activities:
DOJ continues to work with the intelligence community and with selected foreign governments to develop the internal and external relationships necessary to support investigations and prevention of intelligence threats and to generate information upon which analysis can be made. Coordination will facilitate long-range analysis of emerging threats.

Background/Program Objectives:
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), spending for health care totaled nearly $1.3 trillion in 2000, and accounted for 13.2 % of the nation's gross domestic product. Public spending for health care services through the Medicare, Medicaid, and all other government funded health care programs accounted for 45 % of total health care spending in 2000. Medicare spending grew 5.6 % in 2000, following a brief period of slower growth in 1999 (1.5 %) and 1998 (1.0 %). CMS has attributed most of the increased spending to changes in provider payments, particularly those enacted in the Balanced-Budget Refinement Act of 1999 and the Benefit Improvement Protection Act of 2000. Due largely to demographic trends, CMS projects that national health expenditures will more than double to $2.8 trillion by 2011, growing at a mean annual rate of 7.3 % during the forecast period 2001 to 2011. Due to this expected growth in health care spending, CMS further projects that national health expenditures will constitute approximately 17.0 % of GDP by 2011, a substantial increase from 13.2 % in 2000.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that as much as 10 % of annual health care costs may be attributable to fraud. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General's most recent audit of improper payments in the Medicare fee-for-service program shows that the claims payment error rate was 6.3 % ($12.1 billion) in 2001, which is down from 14% ($23.2 billion) when the first audit was conducted in 1996. Fraudulent claims submitted to health care insurers and medically unnecessary services performed simply to generate billings are prevalent in every geographical area in the country. Pending cases demonstrate that fraud exists on a national scale, through either corporate schemes to defraud or systemic abuse by certain provider types. Home health care agencies, medical transport companies, suppliers of durable medical equipment, and clinical laboratories are particularly susceptible to fraud. Enhanced use of technology to analyze health care billing data will allow law enforcement and health care program agencies to become more proactive in detecting fraud and abuse, identifying systemic weaknesses and closing loopholes in the system before criminals take further advantage of them.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
DOJ will continue to successfully investigate, prosecute and obtain judgments, forfeitures and settlements against providers that defraud health care programs. DOJ will also continue to sponsor training programs for prosecutors, investigators, and program integrity personnel and will collaborate with other federal and state agencies to combat health care fraud. The key performance measure illustrates projected reductions in discrete CMS Medicare expenditures based on recent enforcement initiatives. The relationship between law enforcement efforts targeting health care fraud and the resulting effect on identifiable areas of Medicare billings is implied by reductions in projected health care costs for Medicare expenditures related to services targeted for fraud enforcement. The Department will focus resources on early indicators of potential fraud that are anticipated to lead to high-impact investigations of nationwide health care schemes. Industries and markets that have been identified as potential targets for investigation will be monitored for reductions in economic loss and frequency of fraud.

Crosscutting Activities:
DOJ has increased participation on interagency task forces and working groups formed to address health care fraud and abuse issues. In addition to federal law enforcement and health care program agency representatives from the Departments of Justice, HHS, Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and the Office of Personnel Management, such task forces may also include state and/or local law enforcement representatives from the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units, and the National Association of Attorneys General. To illustrate, the National Health Care and Managed Care Fraud Working Group was formed in the early 1990s and meets on a quarterly basis. Similarly, numerous United States Attorneys' Offices across the nation chair interagency health care fraud task forces that meet routinely on a local or state basis. DOJ and HHS formed an interagency Nursing Home Fraud and Abuse steering committee, comprised of CMS, HHS-OIG and the FBI, that has met monthly since the agencies launched a nursing home fraud and abuse initiative in October 1998. Since 2000, DOJ and CMS have jointly sponsored one national conference and two regional meetings to enhance the use of technology and high-tech analytic tools to combat health care fraud.

Background/Program Objectives:
Private industry in the U.S. controls trillions of dollars in assets, an inviting target for criminal schemes ranging from technological attacks on a corporation's intellectual property to more traditional attempts to defraud. The challenge facing the FBI in this area is to create and maintain a strong deterrent capability that will prevent criminal organizations from defrauding, and thereby weakening, U.S. industries. To prevent significant levels of fraud, the FBI must be able to identify emerging trends and industry vulnerabilities and enlist the cooperation of the private sector.

The overwhelming number of frauds committed each year far exceeds the FBI's capacity to investigate and prosecute each individually. Accordingly, the FBI will concentrate on the most significant crime problems, leverage limited resources through cooperative efforts with affected industries and other law enforcement agencies, and implement a preventive strategy that will rely heavily on improved intelligence.

The current focus in the area of fraud revolves around the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force, created by Executive Order, under the direction of the Deputy Attorney General to oversee and coordinate the Department's and the Federal Government's efforts to investigate, prosecute, and punish corporate fraud. The Corporate Fraud Task Force has thus far coordinated hundreds of investigations of accounting misstatements, fraudulent enrichment, and obstruction of justice at companies large and small. These efforts have yielded significant indictments and pleas in matters involving WorldCom, Enron, Adelphia, Homestore.Com, Peregrine Systems, El Paso Corporation, ImClone, Newcom, Commercial Financial Services, and other companies.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
In FY 2004, under the leadership of the Corporate Fraud Task Force, DOJ will continue to identify and target fraud schemes such as corporate fraud. DOJ will also continue to pursue health care fraud, money laundering, financial institution fraud, insurance fraud, securities/commodities fraud, and identity theft, which threaten to undermine our nation's financial institutions. DOJ will aggressively utilize the money laundering and asset forfeiture statutes to ensure that fraudulently obtained funds are located and proper restitution is made to the victims of fraud. DOJ's enforcement strategy is a coordinated approach whereby the Department will continue to work with other Federal agencies to identify and target fraud schemes by successfully investigating, prosecuting, and obtaining judgments and settlements.

Crosscutting Activities:
The President's Corporate Fraud Task Force is a collaborative efforts led by the DOJ to root out and eradicate corporate fraud. The Task Force combines the efforts of components across DOJ and the cooperation of SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Labor, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Background/Program Objectives:
Public corruption is a serious crime against both the individual and society as a whole. All public corruption offenses, regardless of the type, share a common objective: to pervert our representative system of government and replace it with a government of special interests. Furthermore, the higher the office or level of government tainted by the corruption, the broader the negative effects. The Department, therefore, places a high priority on attacking public corruption by senior government officials. The Public Corruption Unit of the FBI believes a significant amount of corruption is untouched. The FBI addresses this problem, both domestically and internationally, by determining likely points of corruption, and then cultivating an intelligence base within government and/or the business entity and monitoring activity.

Over the past 5 years, there have been more than 600 subjects in law enforcement corruption cases. There is a growing trend of law enforcement corruption cases involving law enforcement officers actively participating in criminal acts, rather than merely protecting such actions. The single greatest obstacle to a law enforcement corruption investigation is the fact that police departments throughout the country regard their own corruption issues as their own "dirty laundry" not to be taken outside the agency.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
The Department will increase its efforts to address public corruption by (1) increasing Department-wide awareness of the significant harm caused by public corruption and the Department's interest in combating it; (2) making public corruption investigations and prosecutions a top priority throughout the Department; and (3) increasing the number and scope of training events for federal prosecutors and investigators focused on corruption cases.

One of the key strategic goals in the FBI regarding public corruption is the increased awareness and pursuit of international matters. The current caseload of investigations is not indicative of the true extent of the problem, but is an indication of the difficulty of pursuing these inquiries. Unfortunately, the U.S. is virtually alone in outlawing corrupt practices by its citizens abroad. As it stands, other nations do not criminalize bribery of foreign public officials, which makes it very difficult for the U.S. to successfully investigate such allegations against its own citizens. However, the FBI is making an effort to gain intelligence into such activities to support its own investigations.

Crosscutting Activities:
The Department also will continue its participation in training events sponsored by other federal departments and agencies and will continue to instruct the Offices of Inspectors General of the federal agencies on the investigations of conflicts of interest and other corruption allegations. At the international level, the Department will continue to assist in a number of anti-corruption efforts including those of the Council of Europe, the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Commission and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The FBI is working with state and local police executives and law enforcement officers in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Asia, on recognizing and responding to emerging trends in law enforcement corruption.

Background/Program Objectives:
With the continuing expansion of the Internet as a global medium for electronic commerce and communications, the type of cybercrime most likely to cause significant harm to consumers and businesses here and abroad, and to undermine consumer confidence, is Internet fraud. There are substantial increases in various fraud schemes involving the Internet, such as online auction fraud, stock manipulation schemes, credit card fraud, false business or investment opportunities, ponzi/pyramid, identity theft, and perjury. One estimate is that online payment-card fraud will increase from $1.6 billion in 2000 to $15.5 billion by 2005.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
DOJ will increase the quality and variety of Internet fraud related training, to ensure that prosecutors and agents are fully conversant with changing trends. To effectively manage the increase in prosecution of cases such as securities fraud, consumer fraud, and identity theft that exploit the Internet, including those cases that may operate in multiple jurisdictions and use sophisticated techniques for concealing and laundering criminal proceeds, the Fraud Section will plan for appropriate investigative, prosecutorial, financial and technical support.

CRM's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section's (CCIPS) dedicated team of prosecutors will continue to build relations with various computer crime squads; respond to requests for training, advice, and review of proposed legislation; and coordinate international efforts (such as investigating the denial of service attachment and Love Bug virus). In addition, CCIPS will increase assistance with wiretaps over computer networks, as well as taps and traces that require agents to segregate Internet headers.

CCIPS will also assist in the prosecution of crimes involving unlawful conduct on the Internet to include Internet gambling, online drug sales, child pornography and fraud; and will maintain primary responsibility for the prosecution of criminal intellectual property violations.

Crosscutting Activities:
As part of the Department's Intellectual Property Initiative, CCIPS will continue to work with USCS, EOUSA and the FBI on prosecuting intellectual property cases. In addition, CCIPS will continue to coordinate approval for, as well as prosecute, all the charges under the theft of trade secret provisions of the Economic Espionage Act.

International coordination will occur through direct bilateral consultation and discussion with G-8 and other countries.

Background/Program Objectives:
The Antitrust Division (ATR) decreases and deters anticompetitive behavior affecting U.S. businesses and consumers by investigating and prosecuting violations of our Nation's antitrust laws. While DOJ remains vigilant in the face of all criminal antitrust activity, DOJ has placed a priority on the successful prosecution of international price fixing cartels. These cartels pose a number of challenges in that they are highly sophisticated; significant for the large volumes of commerce involved; and extremely broad in terms of the number of businesses and consumers affected. ATR is committed to meeting these challenges in order to ensure the arrest of unlawful conduct, wherever it occurs, that causes injury in the United States. Successful enforcement of these laws decreases and deters anticompetitive behavior which saves U.S. consumers millions of dollars, allows them to receive goods and services of the highest quality at the lowest price, and enables U.S. businesses to compete on a level playing field nationally and internationally.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
When businesses are found to be actively engaged in bid rigging, price fixing, and other market allocation schemes that negatively affect U.S. consumers and businesses (no matter where the illegal activity may be taking place), ATR pursues criminal investigations and prosecutions. ATR's Individual and Corporate Leniency Programs, revised in recent years for greater effectiveness, have proven critical in uncovering criminal antitrust violations. Increasingly, ATR is relying on formal international cooperation agreements or informal consultations with foreign antitrust authorities in pursuit of the companies and individuals involved, whether those companies come to our attention via the Leniency Programs, or through other channels. Greater time and resources are devoted to investigation-related travel and translation, given the increasingly international operating environment of the criminal conspiracies being encountered. In all instances, if ATR ultimately detects market collusion and successfully prosecutes, ATR may obtain criminal fines or injunctive relief.

Crosscutting Activities:
The Antitrust Division maintains relationships with the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys, largely in support of the criminal enforcement strategy. Activities in this area are typically coordinated on a case-by-case basis, and program performance is assessed in terms of successful prosecutions of unlawful conduct.

Background/Program Objectives:
Vigorous prosecution remains the cornerstone of the Department's integrated approach to ensuring broad-based environmental compliance. It is the goal of investigators and prosecutors to discover and prosecute criminals before they have done substantial damage to the environment (including protected species), seriously affected public health, or inflicted economic damage on consumers or law-abiding competitors. The Department's environmental protection efforts depend on a strong and credible criminal program to prosecute and deter future wrongdoing. Highly publicized prosecutions and tougher sentencing for environmental criminals are spurring improvements in industry practice and greater environmental compliance. Working together with federal, state and local law enforcers, DOJ is meeting the challenges of increased referrals and more complex criminal cases through training of agents, officers and prosecutors; outreach programs; and domestic and international cooperation.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
In FY 2003, the Department will continue its efforts to convict and deter environmental crimes through initiatives focused on laboratory fraud, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) smuggling, water pollution, leaking underground storage tanks, and the transportation of hazardous materials. For example, the Laboratory Fraud Initiative centers on ensuring that businesses and environmental enforcement agencies at the federal, state and local levels can rely on the accuracy of analyses performed by commercial laboratories. Investigations will examine fraudulent practices, target companies suspected of committing laboratory fraud, and identify common investigative and prosecutorial issues in these cases. The CFC Smuggling Initiative has led to a dramatic decline in CFC trafficking, although the Department expects that smuggling may rise as the shortage of CFC-12, a type of ozone depleting chemical, becomes more acute. The Water Pollution Initiative is aimed at investigating and prosecuting cases involving the discharge of illegal pollutants into the nation's sewers and public wastewater treatment facilities. More than 100 million pounds of toxic industrial compounds annually pass untreated through the nation's publicly owned treatment works, only to be discharged into rivers and lakes. The focus of the Leaking Underground Storage Tanks initiative is uncovering widespread fraud by firms that fail to lawfully test and analyze underground tank systems. Such testing is critical to the protection of the nation's drinking water. The Department will work to identify the companies involved in these schemes and to develop criminal investigations and prosecute them. The "Hazmat" or Hazardous Material Enforcement Initiative focuses on violations of the laws in connection with the transportation and handling of toxic and flammable substances. Experts have identified the nation's Hazmat transportation & handling system as a vulnerable area for terrorist attacks. For example, thousands of deaths could result from a terrorist with a fraudulent HazMat license commandeering a tractor-trailer or a vessel laden with hazardous materials. The Department will work to ensure the environmental HazMat laws are enforced and will identify and prosecute violators, resulting in the strengthening of our homeland security.

In addition, the Department will continue to battle international trafficking of protected species of fish, wildlife, and plants with a host of international treaty partners. International trade in wildlife is second in size only to the illegal drug trade, and our criminal prosecutors work directly on these cases, as well as assist the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, and share their expertise nationwide with state and federal prosecutors and investigators. We will also focus on both interstate trafficking and poaching cases on federal lands, and seek to insure that our wildlife laws are uniformly applied and enforced across the country, seeking consistency in the U.S. position in these criminal prosecutions and a vigorous enforcement program that is an international role model.

Crosscutting Activities:
ENRD, the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices are working collectively with other federal agencies (including EPA and the Department of the Interior (DOI), and state and local governments to strengthen enforcement of environmental criminal cases. The Department is involved in the U.S./Canadian CFC Enforcement Work Group; eradicating clandestine drug labs; supporting enforcement of the lead-based paint disclosure rule in collaboration with DOI, state and local prosecutors, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and EPA; and improving the quality of our costal waters through multi-agency efforts. In addition, the Department is focusing increased attention on training federal, state and local investigators and prosecutors, as well as their counterparts in neighboring Canada, Mexico, and other countries under sponsorship by other agencies or organizations.

Background/Program Objectives:
The Tax Division's (TAX) criminal enforcement objective is to deter taxpayers from illegal conduct that drains the Treasury through the consistent and uniform enforcement of the criminal tax laws. TAX accomplishes this goal through the nationwide review of requests to prosecute criminal tax violations and, upon specific request, through litigation assistance in the investigation and prosecution of criminal tax cases. In addition, TAX provides assistance in treaty negotiations and foreign evidence gathering in criminal tax matters.

TAX reviews cases to ensure that these prosecutions meet national federal criminal tax enforcement standards. The matters reviewed cover the full range of criminal charges found in the IRS code as well as associated offenses found in Titles 18, 21, and 31 of the United States Code. The case review process is essential to Tax Division's supervisory oversight of criminal tax matters as it enables TAX to provide critical guidance to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) on complex federal substantive and procedural tax issues, difficult requirements encountered in indirect methods of proof, and unique evidentiary and sentencing problems found in criminal tax cases. As a result, the national average of convictions in indicted criminal tax trials continues to be very high and thereby advances one of the TAX goals of establishing overall general deterrence through carefully selected prosecutions.

Each year TAX also successfully handles a substantial number of criminal tax investigations and prosecutions. These are primarily undertaken at the request of various EOUSAs who either lack resources or do not have the expertise specific to the case. Cases having significant regional or national scope are undertaken as part of TAX's priority initiatives. The nature of cases range from illegal tax protest to complex white collar fraud cases involving illegal international business transactions, complex tax issues, and foreign evidence gathering problems. TAX also focuses on the prosecution of legal source income cases, defined as those cases where the source of the proposed criminal tax charges is income that is legally produced as distinguished from income earned as a result of illegal conduct. As the vast majority of the taxpaying public earns its income from legal sources, legal source income prosecutions have a significant deterrent effect.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
The Tax Division coordinates nationwide criminal investigations and prosecutions of illegal tax protest groups using new and emerging schemes and combats abusive international tax evasion schemes before they cause significant damage to the tax system. TAX efforts stop the proliferation of regional and nationwide tax evasion schemes using illegal trusts. TAX prosecutes legal source income cases and prosecutes drug cases involving tax crimes. In addition, TAX conducts training and provides expert technical assistance to EOUSA. Assistance is also provided in treaty negotiations and foreign evidence gathering in criminal tax matters. Initiatives concerning legislative and policy matters involving the sentencing guidelines, the federal rules of evidence and criminal procedure, and substantive criminal law are also provided by TAX.

Crosscutting Activities:
Criminal tax enforcement requires the cooperation of the IRS, USAs, and other federal government agencies. Recently, the Tax Division has worked closely with the IRS in its on-going reorganization of its criminal investigation function and to develop plans for an enhanced working relationship between the IRS and DOJ.

Representatives of the Tax Division are also liaison attorneys with the various regions of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and are formal members of its policy formation body. In addition, the Tax Division is represented on the Domestic Terrorism Task Force chaired by the Terrorism Violent Crimes Section of the Criminal Division. Participation in these and other joint task forces enables the Tax Division to help formulate national programs, strategy and procedures in cooperation with other law enforcement components in a coordinated attack on financial crime.

Background/Program Objectives:
The FBI's Crimes Against Children (CAC) program in coordination with the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section work to reduce the vulnerability of children to acts of sexual exploitation and abuse; develop a nationwide capacity to provide a rapid, effective investigative response to reported crimes involving the victimization of children; and strengthen the capabilities of state and local law enforcement investigators through training programs and investigative assistance.

CAC impacts not only the victims, but also their families, communities and law enforcement. Although the impact cannot be quantified, crimes against children clearly raise safety concerns for our citizens within their communities. Subjects who prey on children typically are not first time offenders, but rather are serial offenders who may have traveled interstate during the commission of multiple offenses targeting children. Most importantly, a rapid, effective response to CAC incidents could literally mean life or death for a victim.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
DOJ will continue to make efforts to apprehend those who commit sexual exploitation offenses against children, including those who traffic in child pornography. The objective of the strategy is to reduce the number of victimized children and to increase the rate of identification and apprehension of child pornographers. Facilitation of crimes against children through the use of a computer and the internet is a national crime problem that is growing dramatically. Statistics in this area have recently doubled annually. The FBI targets individuals involved in sexual exploitation of children by focusing its investigative efforts towards travelers/enticers (i.e. those who entice minors to meet them in order to engage in sexual acts), and enterprises involved in the manufacture and distribution of child pornography.

Crosscutting Activities:
The Criminal Division works closely with the 24 FBI regional Innocent Images Task Forces. Task forces are comprised of representatives from the FBI, U.S. Customs Service, and USAs, as well as state and local law enforcement offices. In addition, the USCS and the U.S. Postal Service manage their own national initiatives to combat child pornography. The Department coordinates with the respective agencies on these programs.

Background/Program Objectives:
The Civil Rights Division's (CRT) Criminal Section works closely with the FBI and the INS to identify victims, many of whom are women and children, of illegal trafficking and to investigate and prosecute incidents involving criminal violations of federal civil rights crimes. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 expanded the scope of the federal enforcement authority over slavery offenses. This new law strengthened our ability to investigate and prosecute slavery offenses. We are continuing our outreach programs in this area in an effort to coordinate slavery and trafficking enforcement efforts throughout the nation.

Strategies to Achieve the FY 2003/FY 2004 Goal:
The Criminal Section's Worker Exploitation Task Force brings together DOJ and the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of State and Health and Human Services (HHS) to address involuntary servitude, slavery, trafficking and other criminal violations involving undocumented workers and others held in bondage. DOJ works closely with DOL, local authorities and the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) community to identify, investigate and prosecute incidents of servitude and human trafficking. Once victims are identified and certified, we work with several agencies to secure available assistance and benefits to victims (e.g., the Section works with HHS to access refugee-type benefits; with HUD to locate possible housing; with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to ensure victims who get a work permit also receive a social l security number; with the Department of Agriculture to obtain food stamps available to certified victims). We also consult with the Department of State, and the National Security Agency to locate language interpreters. Additionally, the Section has spearheaded formal training of local and federal investigators and prosecutors in the techniques of investigating and prosecuting slavery cases and to provide expert guidance on the newly enacted Trafficking Victims Act. Training and outreach efforts continue in this area.

Crosscutting Activities:
Crosscutting activities for this activity are detailed in the strategies section above.

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