Announced 288 arrest were made in a opera ration in operation targeting fentanyl traffickers. They seized products most of which were being sold on the internet. A little over two weeks ago i , announced that the Justice Department had taken significant Enforcement Actions against the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world. The sinaloa cartel. I said then that the Justice Department is doing everything in our power and using every authority we have to bring those responsible for the fentanyl epidemic to justice that includes Holding Accountable the drug traffickers who use the dark web to commit their crimes. Drug traffickers are increasingly turning to the dark web to sell Illegal Drugs in exchange for cryptocurrency. They may advertise their drugs on dark net market places as brand name pharmaceuticals. But in reality, the pills are often counterfeit and laced with fentanyl. The drug traffickers are confident that by operating anonymously on the dark web, they can operate outside the bounds of the law. They are wrong. Im joined today by fbi, Deputy Director paul bait. Dea, Principal Deputy administrator lou milone, chief, postal inspector gary barksdale. Ira c i chief jim lee and fbi fda Investigative Services division chief, daniel burke. We are here today to announce the results of an unprecedented International Enforcement operation led by the fbi known as operation specter. To against traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs who operate on the dark web. Operation specter was a coordinated International LawEnforcement Effort spanning three continents to disrupt Drug Trafficking on the dark web. It involved agencies across the federal government along with our partners at europol and euro just and Law Enforcement agencies in eight foreign countries. It was led by the departments joint criminal opioid and dark net enforcement or j code team. Across the us and eight other countries operation spect to spector resulted in a total of 288 arrests and the seizure of 117 illegal firearms, 850 kg of drugs and 53. 54 point million 53. 4 million in cash and cryptocurrency. This represents the most funds seized in the highest number of arrests in any coordinated International Action led by the Justice Department against drug traffickers on the dark web here dark web. Here in the United States our , operation spector investigations involve the fbi dea atf and more than 30 us attorneys offices as well as our partners and other federal agencies. In the United States, we arrested 153 defendants seized 104 illegal guns and seized over 200,000 pills including those containing fentanyl. To give just three examples of the cases that made up this massive operation since it began in october 2021 in the Central District of california a , defendant was charged with drug and weapons offenses for his role in leading an organization that obtained bulk fentanyl operated labs that used high speed pill presses to create pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine and sold millions of pills to thousands of customers on the dark net. In the Southern District of florida, we secured the conviction of an individual who distributed narcotics including fentanyl on various dark web marketplaces. That defendant possessed a list of over 6000 customers across the United States and in the Eastern District of california, two individuals were charged with drug and Money Laundering offenses for their role in selling tens of thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl in exchange for cryptocurrency on the dark web. I am extremely grateful to the agents, prosecutors, analysts and staff across the department who participated in this operation including the fbi and its j code team. The dea and atf our us , attorneys offices and multiple divisions and sections of the criminal division. Including the computer crime, intellectual property section, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery section, the narcotic and dangerous drug section, the fraud section and the office of international affairs. I also want to thank our partners across the federal government for their assistance in this operation including the us postal inspection services, irs criminal investigation, Homeland Security criminal investigations, u. S. Customs and border protections. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the fda office of investigations and the treasury departments financial crimes enforcement network. Partners at europol and euro i am likewise grateful to our partners at europol and euro just and to our Law Enforcement partners in austria, france, germany, the netherlands, poland, brazil, the United Kingdom and switzerland, without whom this operation would not have been possible. The Justice Department is cracking down on criminal Cryptocurrency Transactions and the online criminal marketplaces that enable them. In 2021 Deputy Attorney general lisa monaco announced the results of another International Operation operation, dark hunter, which included the rest the arrest of 150 dark net drug traffickers and the seizure of 32 billion in cash and cryptocurrencies. Last year together with our , german Law Enforcement partners, we seized hydro market, the Worlds Largest and longest running illegal marketplace on the dark web. Earlier this year, we led a coordinated International Operation against genesis market. A major criminal marketplace that enabled cyber criminals to victimize individuals, businesses and governments around the world. And today, we have announced an unprecedented International Enforcement action against drug traffickers on the dark web. This work will continue our this work will continue. Our message to criminals on the dark web is this, you can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes. The Justice Department together with our american and International Partners will continue to disrupt and dismantle dark net markets. We will continue to illuminate the dark web and we will bring to justice those who try to hide their crimes there. Im now pleased to turn the podiover to fbi, Deputy Director abate. Dep. Dir. Bate good morning, everyone. And thank you, attorney general garland simply put todays announcement presents a stark warning about the real world consequences of virtual activity, the criminal and often life threatening reality of what lurks within that realm in the clear and direct message that the fbi will never rest until we shine a light on the digital drug lords who knowingly and recklessly push fatal fentanyl tainted narcotics from the shadows of the dark net. It is a privilege to represent the fbi here today alongside the department of justice, the Drug Enforcement administration, the us postal inspection service. Irs criminal Investigative Division and our partners at the food and Drug Administration and to have the chance to speak about our leading and collaborative role in this years j code operation known as operation spector, which is not just one investigation but rather a series of coordinated Enforcement Actions as was mentioned since late 2021 involving the work of 16 fbi field offices across the United States, seven additional domestic investigative agencies and eight international partnered governments. As youve heard similar operations take place periodically, but this years successes, no doubt, have raised the bar for future campaigns as weve worked together with our partners to make nearly 300 arrests, seize more than 53 million of ill gotten cash and cryptocurrency from the traffickers and to confiscate more than 100 illegal firearms and nearly £2000 of drugs. 2000 pounds of drugs. We accomplished all this by leveraging a wide range of lawful investigative authorities among each of our agencies and departments. We and the fbi followed leads from prior marketplace takedowns. In other cases, we acted on information from International Partners. We sent in agents in an undercover capacity and we took investigative referrals from local Law Enforcement agencies who responded to overdoses to name just a few of the actions taken. In addition to those more traditional means, we applied innovative Technical Methods to uncover the true identities of of these covert criminals attempting to hide in the dark spaces of the internet. We came at this issue together from a multitude of angles leveraging innovative approaches and spared literally no resource. All because of the severity of the dark net threat, its impact on our communities and on our nations growing Violent Crime problem and the fbi and our partners unique abilities to put the people responsible for this devastation behind bars in just behind bars. In just one arrest last year, as an example, the team took down a california based dark net dealer who used at least nine different marketplaces and employed a web of workers to ship and receive millions of pills to thousands of buyers and potential victims. There, we worked with our partners to find and seize over 500 pounds of Illegal Drugs, High Speed Presses that could produce thousands of pills an hour illegal firearms and more than 20,000 multicolored fentanyl lace pills meant to look like oxycodone. It should be noted that the dark net is not just a marketplace for illegal and dangerous drugs. Its also one stop shopping for almost every kind of criminal product or service thats out there from stolen online credentials, to child sexual abuse material, to fraudulent passports and ids to computer hacking tools and much more, which makes tackling the dark net, not just a Law Enforcement issue alone, but also a National Security challenge and threat. It is also a Public Health and safety imperative, which is why the operation were discussing today was focused especially on preventing the sale of illicit drugs. The dark net is one of the most dangerous places for an american or anyone to purchase drugs. And more so now than ever with dealers consistently cutting their unregulated products with potentially deadly doses of fentanyl worsening a crisis that is taking tens of thousands of american lives each and every year. This is why for the first time, this year we sent investigative leads to every one of our 56 field offices to knock and talk with numerous dark net narcotics buyers to let them know that their actions were not anonymous and to warn them about the perils of the purchases they made. And in a further extension of this preventative effort, we worked with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to create and distribute brochures, talking about these same hazards to military personnel who may seek to buy narcotics online because empowering the public, especially at risk and vulnerable groups with information to make better informed decisions will be just as important as arrests. If were going to solve our nations opioid crisis, many people probably think this could not affect them that the dark net is too mysterious, too distant and too inaccessible. But the dangers of drugs from the dark net are far too real and far too prevalent and users never know which pill may be their last, which brings us to share the tragic story of a 19 year old from colorado who was an exceptional student having made the deans list every semester in college. He came from a wonderful family, had taught himself other languages and loved to build computers in his spare time. But some of the packages his family thought were full of computer parts actually contained drugs he had purchased off the dark net. And because of those drugs that promising young man who sadly died of an overdose last year, far too soon. And yet another sad and troubling reflection of the far too many lives lost. An fbi investigation led to the arrest of the dealers responsible for this heartbreaking loss of life. Unfortunately, there are tens of thousands of other stories like this across the country and around the world. So our work to investigate and eradicate these dangerous criminal marketplaces and remove the criminals who run and perpetuate them will not end with todays announcement. As the attorney general stated, our Enforcement Efforts will endure along with the tireless and unrelenting pursuit of those responsible and through this operation. And with this announcement today, the fbi and everyone Standing Shoulder to shoulder here on this stage, hope to make one thing very, very clear. We will not let the shadows of the dark net dim our vision of a safer, more just and Brighter Future for our communities. We will continue to work relentlessly 24 7 together to protect people, to keep human life safe and to hold accountable and stop those who greedily spread this terrible harm. Thank you. Questions. Pardon . Which have more than one. We attorney general, we noticed that mexico is not listed among the countries that you have as cooperating in this in this operation. And it raises the question of, of whether you and, and the others here believe that the Mexican Government and Law Enforcement is doing enough on this issue of fentanyl and, and the trafficking across the border. And i have a second off topic, question. As you know, i have been to mexico myself twice, meeting with the secretary of defense, meeting with the head of the navy, meeting with my attorney general counterpart and the security minister. We and they have been here twice. We have all of us can be doing more, all of us can be working harder although it must, it feels to all of us like we are at, you know, working, at them we need the cooperation of mexico in all kinds of matters and, we will continue to work on that problem. Yes, i do. You assured congress some time ago that the hunter biden investigation would be conducted without any kind of political interference. And i wonder if you would believe that that is still the case, if that is still the case that the investigation is not being interfered in any political way. Since an agent from mr lees agency has now come forward claiming whistleblower status and alleging that there has been some kind of still the case. Some kind of interference. I stand by my testimony and i refer you to the us attorney for the district of delaware who is in charge of this case and capable of making any decisions that he feels are appropriate. So this is just the latest of a number of takedowns that youve done recently dealing with dark net market places. And i just, im just wondering if youre seeing any sort of overall reduction in this activity as a result. You know, what is stopping these people who were, you know, just using this marketplace from jumping to the next one and i also have a second question. The first one, im gonna do a little bit and let paul speak next and then ill come back to your second question. Yes, we have noticed obviously when we take down a dark net that we disrupt the, the situation for some time. But youre also right, people can reconstitute. \ there are other people. Thats why we now have gone through. There is a bit of a whack, a mole problem here and we are whacking as hard as we can. We are getting more and more sophisticated and more and more capable of finding both the perpetrators and the victims and the customers. Let me ask paul if you sorry, if you want exactly what the attorney general said. We do believe its having an impact our Enforcement Efforts on those who are pushing these often fatal products on the internet. Theres no doubt about that, but also were really focused on reaching out to potential victims and better informing them and bringing awareness to the public so that people can put themselves in the best position to protect their own lives. And i think those two things together, were going to see an increasing effect in a very positive way and progress that were making through our combined efforts on both sides here. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. During a recent congressional hearing, you also mentioned that john durhams report would be done relatively soon. Im just wondering what your time frame for that is. Have you received the report . And what are your plans to make it public. No, i havent received the report and any other questions you have about mr durhams work. I recommend you refer to mr durham. Last question, kevin. Yes. On the, on this case, specifically you mentioned the one death that the deputy fbi director had had mentioned. Are you able to tie a a number of deaths to the cases that you brought in as part of this operation . And then i have a second. Ok. Before we do either of those point of personal privilege, i understand kevin, this is gonna be your last press conference. Unfortunately, its not my last press conference. I wanna thank you very much for your service. Youve done a great job in bringing the work of the department to the American People and Holding Us Accountable and im grateful for it. Now continue with your hard question as we expect, i have to go on to paul on the question of this particular operation. We do have quite a number of cases now where we have succeeded in tying sales to deaths and prosecuting accordingly. But i dont know whether any are directly beyond the one paul said related to this. So ill let him answer that. Its hard to quantify the number of deaths from this potentially related to this particular operation. Theres a tragic case that i mentioned. We know that theres far too many more. Thats the bottom line. Thats where were going to continue these efforts and continue to work to protect people and keep lives safe and get the bad guys off the street and stop them from doing this. But i dont have an exact number within the current operation other than to say its not just one and its, its far, far too many, sadly, and i put it on the phone so i can get my moneys worth here. As a former judge. How concerned are you about these reports of the Supreme Court justices failing to abide by Disclosure Requirements . And is there anything there for the Justice Department to look at . Well as you know, me, well enough by now, im not going to be able to comment on, on that kind of a question as a general matter as a federal judge, i have always believed that the judiciary should follow and be held to the highest ethical standards that continues to be my belief. Thank you. Everyone. On wednesday a look at transnational crime and fentanyl trficking with officials from u. S. Customs and order protectionreand watch the hearing live at 2 00 eastern on cspan live, our free mobile video apple or online at the our free mobile video app or online at cspan. Org. Cspans washington journal, every day we take your calls live on the air on the news of the day. And we discussed policy issues that impact you. Getting coming up wednesday morning we will discuss the Supreme Courts role in the abortion rights access. And brian fallon will talk about the progressive push for Supreme Court justices. Watch washington journal, on cspan, or on cspan now are free mobile video app. During the discussion with your facebook comments, Text Messages and tweets. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government we are funded by these companies and more including comcast you think this is just a community center, its way more than that. 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