Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Good afternoon. In just a few minutes, U.S. Attorney Lapointe and I will meet with the law enforcement officers gathered around this table.
I am grateful to each of them for being here, and look forward to our discussion.
At the top of our agenda will be our shared efforts to help keep our communities safe from violent crime.
As always, but especially right now, that includes remaining vigilant in the face of the potential threats of hate-fueled violence and terrorism.
Hamas’s terrorist attacks on Israel have created understandable fear among communities across the country.
As the FBI has noted, we are seeing an increase in reported threats against faith communities, particularly Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and institutions.
Last week, I directed all 94 of our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the FBI to be in close touch with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in their districts.
Yesterday I met with, and today and tomorrow I will continue to meet with, our U.S. Attorneys and federal, state, and local law enforcement officials here in Florida.
I have also directed our U.S. Attorneys to reach out to religious and other community leaders in their districts to reaffirm our commitment to them and assess what additional support they may need.
Our partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement, and with the communities they serve, are at the center of our efforts to keep our country and our communities safe.
That strategy also guides our work to attack every aspect of the trafficking of fentanyl, the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced.
Earlier this month, we announced charges in the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida against eight chemical companies based in China, and 12 of their executives for crimes related to the production, distribution, and importation of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, methamphetamines, and their precursor chemicals.
That same day, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a set of individuals and entities involved in fentanyl trafficking. That included all of the China-based companies charged here in the Southern District of Florida.
That case is just one example of how we are going after every link in the cartel-driven fentanyl trafficking networks. That includes the cartels’ chemical suppliers often based in China, their clandestine lab operators, their security forces, their weapons suppliers, their drug traffickers, and their money launderers.
It also includes the cartels’ leaders. Last month, we extradited Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and one of EI Chapo’s sons, from Mexico to the United States.
I am proud of the work the extraordinary public servants of this office are doing every single day on multiple fronts – from violent crime, drug trafficking, and human smuggling to hate crimes and the threat of foreign and foreign-incited terrorism acts.
Every day, the dedicated men and women of this Office work to fulfill our mission: to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.
But we cannot do that work without the law enforcement partners in this room today. The entire Department is grateful for that partnership.
I am grateful for that partnership.
We are now going to begin our meeting.