Sessions announces new team of feds aimed at fighting cyber opioid markets
Associated Press
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks to a group of local law enforcement representatives about the opioid epidemic and violent crime Monday in Pittsburgh.
Associated Press
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference Monday in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced plans to direct more resources to fighting illicit online trafficking in opioids, predicting a “rude awakening” for those who use the networks constituting the so-called “dark net.”
“We have already infiltrated their networks, and we are determined to bring them to justice,” Sessions – an appointee of President Donald Trump who became chief of the Department of Justice early last year – said while addressing dozens of area law enforcement officials and preapproved members of the media during a visit to the U.S. Courthouse in Pittsburgh Monday.
“In the midst of the deadliest drug crisis in American history, the FBI and the Department of Justice are stepping up our investment in fighting opioid-related crimes,” he added.
He went on to say he was creating the Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement, or J-CODE, team.
“By bringing together (Drug Enforcement Administration), our Safe Streets task forces, our drug trafficking task forces, health care fraud special agents and other assets, the FBI will more than double its investment in the fight against online drug trafficking – dedicating dozens more Special Agents, Intelligence Analysts and professional staff to focus solely on this one issue,” Sessions added.
He left without taking questions.
In making the announcement, Sessions pointed to the July seizure of the online drug marketplace known as Alpha Bay, which, he said, boasted more than 220,000 drug listings and was “responsible for countless synthetic opioid overdoses, including the tragic death of a 13-year-old.”
He also lauded the expertise of federal law enforcement in Pittsburgh in fighting certain types of drug-related cybercrime.
“This office has an impressive Darknet Fentanyl working group. You work with the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security investigators, the county crime lab, the state attorney general and the postal inspectors to stop fentanyl from reaching this community,” he said. “And you do amazing work. This cooperative effort is essential.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid said to be orders of magnitude more powerful than its cousins morphine and heroin.
Among those in the audience was Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone, who planned to attend a briefing with Sessions following Sessions’ remarks.
Vittone said he expected to talk about some of his office’s efforts toward fighting opioid overdoses locally, which include a partnership with the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh on heroin investigations which, as of earlier this month, had resulted in the arrests of 21 mid- to high-level alleged drug dealers.
Vittone also expected to discuss the county’s Opioid Overdose Task Force, a diverse coalition formed in 2016 with the aim of curbing overdose deaths in the area.
“I’m just going to talk to him about the efforts of the coalition, what we’re doing with them,” Vittone said.