Volume 9
Courtesy of the FBI and YouTube )
“ It starts with narcotics , but the criminal networks are also smuggling weapons , bulk currency , trafficking humans , and using sophisticated money laundering techniques ,” said FBI Unit Chief Brett Chianella , who heads the Bureau ’ s staff at JI- ATF-S .
Champions Edition
Cmdr . Jose Jose-Vasquez , a JIATF-S liaison officer from the Dominican Republic Navy , agreed . “ If I have to make a contact with the Colombian liaison , for example , I just have to look in the office . I don ’ t need a passport or a visa or a diplomatic procedure . In a matter of minutes , we have the information needed to be successful .”
“ Those networks are organized , armed , and well-financed , and they have ties to corrupt public officials and even foreign terrorist fighters ,” he added . “ The drugs are one spoke in the wheel of all this organized crime activity .”
One of the task force ’ s priorities is to stop the flow of drugs at their source of supply rather than after the contraband enters the U . S . and is distributed . “ Either you deal with it 1,500 miles away or you deal with it after it crosses our borders ,” said Chianella , who was recently appointed a JIATF-S vice director ( see sidebar below ).
Partner nations send their best and brightest officers to work at the task force for one- and twoyear assignments , and when they return to their home countries — often to assume leadership positions in their organizations — they have built lasting relationships with their fellow liaison officers and U . S . contacts .
Lt . Col . Gustavo Alvarez , a Honduran Army officer , had just arrived in Florida as the JIATF-S liaison officer in March 2015 when he assisted with the FBI case out of New Orleans . He saw firsthand how the task force model of integrating intelligence and operations gets results .
“ One of the biggest takeaways when you come here ,” he said , “ is that the foreign liaison officers are all just a few steps away , one office to the other .” That means information flows into the task force , Alvarez said , “ but it also starts going between the other countries of interest . So the information flow really grows exponentially .”
Using intelligence largely supplied by the FBI , the task force detects and monitors vessels used by traffickers . Then , military and law enforcement personnel from the U . S . and partner nations step in to carry out the interdictions and arrests
Perspectives
Personnel on the Joint Interagency Task Force South describe how the unique makeup of the alliance streamlines efforts to combat drug traffickers and criminal networks covering 42 million square miles , primarily in Central and South America . JIATF-S Vice Director Brett Chianella describes working with foreign liaison officers . “ Trust is a big factor .”
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