Attorney General Jeff Sessions Gives Key Department of Justice Task Force New Tools to Dismantle MS-13

Taking another step toward fulfilling President Trump’s goal of stamping out the brutal transnational criminal organization MS-13, Attorney General Jeff Sessions today formally designated the gang as a priority for the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (“OCDETF”).

Addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Attorney General explained that the formal priority designation of MS-13 allows OCDETF to utilize an expanded toolkit in its efforts to dismantle the organization. This means that OCDETF should look to all laws in its investigative and prosecutorial efforts, including drug laws, gun laws, tax laws, RICO, and anything else that will cripple the gang. In his speech, the Attorney General said:

“But this work is not finished.  I am announcing today that I have designated MS-13 as a priority for our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.  These task forces bring together a broad coalition of our federal prosecutors, DEA, FBI, ATF, ICE, HSI, the IRS, the Department of Labor Inspector General, the Postal Service Inspectors, the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the Coast Guard.  And they all have one mission: to go after drug criminals and traffickers at the highest levels.

"Now they will go after MS-13 with a renewed vigor and a sharpened focus.  I am announcing that I have authorized them to use every lawful tool to investigate MS-13—not just our drug laws, but everything from RICO to our tax laws to our firearms laws.  Just like we took Al Capone off the streets with our tax laws, we will use whatever laws we have to get MS-13 off of our streets.”