The task force, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania will further efforts to protect the United States against cartels and criminal organizations.
In December, United States Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, announced the establishment of the Homeland Security Task Force Philadelphia.
According to the press release, the task force is a “focused federal effort dedicated to eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that fuel fentanyl overdoses and deaths, inject violence into our communities, facilitate human trafficking, and exploit vulnerable communities across the city and surrounding region.”
The establishment of the task force aims to combat the scourge of fentanyl in Philadelphia and the violence that accompanies the fentanyl crisis.
“As cartels pour deadly drugs into this district that do immeasurable damage, they’re also fueling gun trafficking and violent gang activity that destabilize neighborhoods and put families at risk,” said the press release.
Homeland Security Task Force Philadelphia aims to confront the threats posed to the community by the fentanyl crisis and gang violence by “uniting federal, state, and local resources to identify, prosecute, and eliminate the criminal networks responsible.”
“Transnational gangs bring fentanyl, violence, and human misery into Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania. Let me be clear: they will find no safe harbor here. My office will use every federal statute, every investigative tool, and every ounce of our authority to prosecute them, dismantle their networks, and put their leaders behind bars for as long as the law allows,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf in a statement on the establishment of Homeland Security Task Force Philadelphia.
The task force in Philadelphia is co-led by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to the press release, partner agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to the release, the task force will build on prosecutions already underway in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Recent indictments in the district have charged defendants that are allegedly tied to transnational criminal organizations and foreign distribution networks that the U.S. Attorney’s Office says have poured millions of dollars of fentanyl, cocaine, and other illicit drugs through Philadelphia.
U.S. Attorney Metcalf said in a statement, “Our neighborhoods deserve to be free from the grip of cartels and gangs that traffic in drugs, guns, and people. HSTF Philadelphia is about more than prosecutions – it’s about protecting families, restoring safety, and ensuring that no community in our district is left vulnerable to the reach of transnational criminal organizations.”
