Trump Team Set to Dissolve Reagan-Era Transnational Crime Unit
Task forces that specialize in fighting organized crime, drug cartels and human traffickers were told to shut down by Sept. 30, according to documents and people familiar with the matter
Damian Williams, then-US attorney for the Southern District of New York, holds a "confidential" binder during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington DC on April 14, 2023. The Justice Department announced charges against several leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and its facilitators. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces were involved in the investigation and capture of the cartel’s leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Photographer: Eric Lee/BloombergThe Trump administration is “decommissioning” a Department of Justice unit that has long been at the center of dismantling transnational organized crime networks, drug cartels and human trafficking rings.
Leaders of the unit, called the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, or OCDETF, were told they had until Sept. 30 to shut down operations, people familiar with the matter said. The people asked not to be identified, citing concerns over potential retribution.