Elevated
Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks
February 26, 2008
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is charged with enforcing a wide array of laws, including those related to securing the border and combating criminal smuggling.
Our nation’s Southern border has experienced a dramatic surge in cross-border crime and violence in recent years due to intense competition between Mexican drug cartels and criminal smuggling organizations that employ predatory tactics to realize their profits.
In response to this trend, ICE has partnered with federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement counterparts to create the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) initiative, a series of multi-agency task forces developed as a comprehensive approach to identifying, disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations posing significant threats to border security. The task forces are designed to increase information sharing and collaboration among the agencies combating this threat on both sides of the border.
BEST incorporates personnel from ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Coast Guard; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office along with other key federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies. Participating in BEST on the Southwest border is the Mexican law enforcement agency Secretaria de Seguridad Publica. Canadian Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police participate in BEST along the Northern border.
There are now six BESTs in place along the U.S. borders. The task forces are located in the Texas border cities of Laredo, El Paso and Harlingen, as well as in Tucson, Ariz., and San Diego. In February 2008, BEST initiated operations in Blaine, Wash., and will soon expand to Buffalo, N.Y.
The United States, Mexico and Canada work jointly under the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) for North America. BEST is one of several working groups that was established or expanded to implement the SPP.
The participating agencies aid with the collection and analysis of intelligence and coordinate and collaborate on investigative efforts to identify and dismantle smuggling organizations. BEST has been highly successful in combating violence in the Laredo area, which served as an impetus for the expansion of the program.
Results of BEST
This coordinated approach has led to significant successes:
In 2008, ICE will expand BESTs to major seaports in Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; Miami; and New York. ICE will continue to establish new BESTs in areas where transnational criminal organizations exploit vulnerabilities along the nation’s border. These new task forces will focus on all aspects of the enforcement process, from interdiction to prosecution and removal. The goal of the expansion is to strengthen the program’s ability to dismantle the leadership and supporting infrastructure of the criminal organizations responsible for perpetrating violence and illegal activity along our borders and in the nation’s interior.