13 January 2003
Fact Sheet: U.S. Customs Expands Financial Crime Task Force
(Aims to address rising number of antiterrorist leads and cases) (1060) The U.S. Customs Service has announced both the domestic and international expansion of a multi-agency financial crime task force targeting financial systems used by terrorist organizations. Following is the January 9 fact sheet containing details of the operation and its expansion: (begin fact sheet) U.S. Customs Service January 9, 2003 Fact Sheet on Expansion of Operation Green Quest What is Operation Green Quest and which agencies are involved? Created on October 25, 2001, Operation Green Quest is a multi-agency financial crimes task force that targets the many systems used by terrorist organizations to raise and move funds. The task force is led by the U.S. Customs Service, and includes agents and analysts from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Postal Service, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. What is the current structure of Operation Green Quest? Currently, Operation Green Quest has a targeting and coordination center at U.S. Customs headquarters in Washington, D.C. that is staffed by agents and analysts from the different participating agencies. The center collects and disseminates leads to agents in the field. It also ensures that investigations by one office/agency do not duplicate or conflict with existing investigations by other offices/agencies. In the field, Operation Green Quest has a dedicated field unit in New York City. This unit is comprised of experienced investigators from the "El Dorado" Task Force, a long-standing financial task force led by U.S. Customs and the IRS. Elsewhere around the country Operation Green Quest utilizes agents from existing member agency offices to help it conduct terror finance investigations. These agents work Operation Green Quest investigations collaterally with their other duties. How will Operation Green Quest be expanding? Much of expansion will occur in the field. Operation Green Quest will be expanding the number of dedicated field units from one (currently in New York City) to a total of 15 dedicated units around the country. These units, each of which will consist of several agents, intelligence analysts and investigative assistants, will be known as Operation Green Quest Investigative Financial Groups. These groups will be located in 13 U.S. cities (two in New York, two in Detroit, and the remainder in other U.S. cities). In Washington, D.C., the targeting and coordination center will be expanded to include three distinct branches. One of these branches will oversee investigations into specific financial systems exploited by terrorists, such as hawalas and charities. Another branch will oversee and coordinate the 15 dedicated units in the field. The final branch will be responsible for coordinating intelligence for Operation Green Quest and will include teams that conduct trend analysis and exploitation. Where will the personnel for this expansion come from? Initially, the personnel for this expansion will come from the U.S. Customs Service, although other agencies will be invited to contribute personnel as well. As part of the expansion, Customs is committing a total of about 300 of its agents and analysts nationwide to work solely on Operation Green Quest matters. This is a substantial increase over Customs current commitment of roughly 150 employees. These Customs agents and analysts will be freed of all additional duties and dedicated full-time to work on terror finance investigations through Operation Green Quest. Will other agencies be contributing to the expansion? The U.S. Customs Service will be inviting other member agencies from Operation Green Quest to contribute personnel towards the expansion. At this early stage, it is not yet known whether or not other agencies will be in a position to commit additional personnel to Operation Green Quest. What will this expansion cost? At this time, there are minimal costs involved, since U.S. Customs will merely be reallocating more agents from its existing workforce to focus on Operation Green Quest investigations. Why is Green Quest expanding now? Has the terror finance threat dramatically increased? Since its inception roughly 15 months ago, Operation Green Quest has gained keen insights into the systems and methods by which terrorists organizations move and raise funds. As its understanding of these systems has grown, the quality and quantity of Operation Green Quest investigations have increased dramatically. Each of these investigations and enforcement actions have, in turn, led to additional evidence, leads, and tips that must be investigated thoroughly and quickly. Given this increasing workload, the importance of these investigations, and the hundreds of leads that continue to pour in, U.S. Customs felt it was critical to expand the number of personnel assigned to Operation Green Quest. By reallocating more of its agents to Operation Green Quest, Customs believes it can better address the terrorist threat and have a greater impact on terrorist finance networks. What has Operation Green Quest achieved since its inception? Since its inception, Operation Green Quest's work has resulted in 177 search warrants/consent searches, 79 arrests, and 70 indictments. In addition, Operation Green Quest has seized nearly $33 million. Out of this sum, roughly $21 million constituted smuggled currency and monetary instruments seized at the nation's borders as part of an Operation Green Quest bulk cash initiative. Operation Green Quest currently has several hundred ongoing investigations into suspected terror finance networks. Operation Green Quest has also performed important outreach functions. Recognizing the importance of cooperation with private industry, the task force continues to conduct an outreach campaign to solicit assistance from and educate the financial and business communities about terrorist financing. Operation Green Quest has given more than 60 presentations on terrorist financing to roughly 3,400 representatives of the financial and business communities. Does Operation Green Quest have an international component? Yes. The task force uses U.S. Customs Attaché offices in 31 nations to pursue overseas leads and to develop investigations through cooperation with foreign governments. (U.S. Customs soon plans to open new Attaché offices in the United Arab Emirates and in Switzerland). Operation Green Quest agents have also made more than 20 trips abroad to follow leads, exploit terrorist related documents, and provide training and assistance to foreign governments on terror financing. (end fact sheet) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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