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united states department of state

Bureau of Diplomatic Security

diplomatic security

investigates

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Introduction ..................................................................................... 1

Passport and Visa Fraud .................................................................. 2

Terrorism and Espionage ................................................................. 3

Personnel Background and Employee Misconduct ........................ 4

Transnational Crimes ....................................................................... 5

DS Investigates With You ................................................................ 6

DS Case File: Most Wanted Captured ............................................. 7

DS Case File: Operation Triple X ...................................................... 8

DS Case File: Operation Death Match ............................................. 9

DS Case File: Operation Eagle Strike ............................................. 10

Legal Authorities ............................................................................ 11

Contact Us ...................................................................................... 12

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diplomatic securityinvestigates

A Guide for United States Law Enforcement

Introduction

The Bureau o Diplomatic Security is the security and law

enorcement arm o the United States Department o State.

As a ederal law enorcement agency, Diplomatic Security

is unique. Special Agents are posted in 25 cities in the

United States and 160 oreign nations by ar the

most geographically widespread o any agency with

ederal law enorcement responsibilities.

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Through its unique overseas presence, Diplomatic Security

has strong relationships with oreign and international

law enorcement organizations. These relationships allow

Diplomatic Security to assist United States law enorcement

agencies in joint investigations. Special Agents are available

to work with ederal, state, and local government law

enorcement ocials to ght certain transnational crimes

that, regardless o where they are committed, violate the

laws o the United States.

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Passport and Visa Fraud

Travel document raud represents a serious and growing

threat to the national security o the United States.

Criminals who obtain a raudulent travel document otenuse it to commit other crimes, including terrorism, nancial

raud, narcotics tracking, alien smuggling, and identity

thet. Fugitives oten seek to change their identities and

travel internationally as part o their criminal activities.

Diplomatic Security Special Agents have conducted

international document raud investigations or

more than 80 years and have the authority to make

arrests or passport and visa raudboth ederal

eloniesand other criminal acts committed in conjunctionwith travel document raud. These investigations are

critical to Americas homeland security.

A United States passport is the most valuable identity

document in the world. It allows the bearer unlimitedaccess to the United States and virtually every country in

the world. Diplomatic Security investigates the raudulent

issuance, acquisition, and use o United States passports.

Working with other ederal government agencies and

state and local law enorcement on passport raudinvestigations, Special Agents arrest more than 600

individuals each year.

Countless people attempt to obtain United States

visas illegally each year. Special Agents investigate andcoordinate international visa raud cases, including the

raudulent issuance, procurement, countereiting, and

orgery o United States visas. Diplomatic Security

works with the State Departments

Bureau o Consular Aairs on casesinvolving allegations o corruption

by American and locally employed

sta o United States embassies,

raudulent-document vendors, bribery,

alien smuggling, and tracking in U.S.

visas. Diplomatic Security has investigated

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thousands o individuals who have attempted to obtain

raudulent visas through criminal organizations or bribery.

Terrorism and Espionage

Special Agents investigate terrorist incidents and

threats made against the Secretary o State, other State

Department employees and acilities, United States

Government employees abroad, oreign embassies

and missions in the United States, and the dignitaries

Diplomatic Security protects. Each year, Special Agents

monitor more than 1,200 threat-related incidents. Agents

share inormation with other ederal and local agencies

to ensure that every threat is thoroughly investigated and

appropriate countermeasures taken.

Diplomatic Security conducts counterintelligenceinquiries and aggressive counterespionage

investigations with other United States Government

agencies.

A robust counterintelligence program is designed to

deter, detect, and neutralize the eorts o oreign

intelligence services targeting Department o State

personnel, acilities, and diplomatic missions worldwide.

At our overseas embassies, Diplomatic Security manages

counterintelligence programs or all United StatesGovernment agencies under the authority o the United

States ambassador.

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When classied materials are compromised at the State

Department, Diplomatic Security initiates the investigation.

Working with other government investigators and

counterintelligence agencies, Special Agents conduct

damage assessments to determine the impact on national

security. Espionage cases are reerred to the United

States Department o Justice or joint investigation and

prosecution.

Personnel Background and Employee Misconduct

All personnel hired by the Department o State, including

ambassadors and other appointees, are investigated to

determine their suitability or employment and to ensure

that granting them access to classied inormation is in the

best interests o our national security. Periodic background

investigations are conducted on incumbent employees

every 5 years. Diplomatic Security conducts around 25,000personnel background investigations each year.

D I P L O MA T I C S E C UR I T Y C A P T U R E S

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Special Agents conduct investigations into

alleged misconduct by employees and investigate

unauthorized disclosure and compromise o

classifed or sensitive inormation. Allegations mayinclude abuse o authority and privileges, discharge o a

rearm, workplace violence, substance abuse, nancial

misconduct, child abuse, and domestic violence. These

investigations could lead to reprimand, suspension,

termination, or criminal charges.

Transnational Crimes

Diplomatic Security plays a leading role in assisting

local, state, and ederal law enorcement agencies with

thousands o investigations overseas each year. Assigned

to United States embassies around the world, Special

Agents (also known as regional security ocers) work with

host country police to pursue investigative leads on United

States ugitives wanted or crimes such as homicide,pedophilia, narcotics tracking, parental kidnapping, and

nancial raud.

As a result o our close working relationship with oreign

police, Diplomatic Security has successully located

United States ugitives all over the world. Each year, this

cooperative eort leads to the arrest and return o dozens

o ugitives rom American justice.

. S . F U G I T I V E S A R O U N D T H E WO R L D

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With the passage o the PROTECT Act in 2003, which

makes it a crime or United States citizens to sexually

exploit or abuse children in a oreign country, Diplomatic

Securitys investigative assistance is in greater demand as

United States law enorcement seeks to apprehend United

States pedophiles who prey on children around the globe.

DS Investigates With You

Diplomatic Security Special Agents are some o the mostversatile and highly skilled law enorcement ocers in the

world. International investigations can be complex. Special

Agents stand ready to work with you. Our investigative

expertise may be o particular assistance in the ollowing

circumstances:

A suspect on a local warrant may have fed the United:States with an assumed identity,

An individual is arrested with documents, especially:passports, in multiple identities, or

A local investigation has developed signicant:inormation on a suspects criminal activity thatdoes not quite provide probable cause, but itis believed that the suspect is using or hasprocured a alse identity or internationaltravel.

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DS Case File:

Most Wanted Captured

The United States Marshals Service contacted Diplomatic

Security at the United States Consulate in Chennai, India to

assist with the location and apprehension o an Americas

Most Wanted ugitive. The subject was wanted on multiple

counts o sexual assaults against minors. Diplomatic Security

conducted surveillance, secured a provisional arrest warrant,and devised an arrest plan. Ater local police arrested the

suspect, Diplomatic Security worked with United States and

Indian ocials to return the ugitive to the United States.

Diplomatic Security returns more than 100 ugitives to the

United States each year to ace justice.

CAPTURED

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DS Case File:

Operation Triple X

In Operation Triple X, Diplomatic Security Special Agents

and the Indonesian National Police (INP) target criminalsyndicates involved in extensive United States visa raud

activities, illegal immigration, production o countereit

Indonesian passports, pedophile operations,

tracking in persons, drug and gun tracking,

and money laundering. The undercover

investigation has also revealed that a ew o these

criminal Indonesian syndicates had a relationship

with the terrorist networks Jemaah Islamiyah

and other Muslim extremist groups operating

in Southeast Asia. Thirty-three subsequent

raids by the INP have resulted in 130 arrests,

including an Indonesian immigration ocial.

The Indonesian prosecutors oce charged

and convicted 126 suspects under Indonesian

raud statutes. Evidence collected consisted

o more than 4,800 raudulent documents,

including Indonesian and United States

passports; United States visas; Indonesian

national identication cards; marriage,birth, and amily records; and vehicle

registrations and drivers licenses. The INP

also seized numerous computers, names

o United States businesses hiring illegal

immigrants, Indonesian and third-countryocial stamps, original and unused blank

Indonesian passport booklet covers

with biographical data pages, refective

security laminates, and passport pages.

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DS Case File:

Operation Death Match

DS Special Agents in San Francisco cross-check death

identities rom state vital records oces against issued U.S.passports. This ongoing DS eort thus ar has resulted in

the opening o more than 250 raud investigations, with

115 arrests and 91 convictions.

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DS Case File:

Operation Eagle Strike

In Operation Eagle Strike, Diplomatic Security Special

Agents investigated the illegal issuance o United States

visas to more than 70 unqualied recipients at the

United States Embassy in Doha, Qatar. Possible terrorist

connections o some o the known visa recipients

prompted a nationwide manhunt by Diplomatic Security,

United States Customs and Immigration Enorcement, and

the Federal Bureau o Investigation, resulting in the arrest

o 49 individuals in the United States and overseas. It was

determined that the remaining 21 recipients never entered

the United States nor used their visas.

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Legal Authorities

The Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act o

1986 established the Diplomatic Security Service. The State

Department Basic Authorities Act o 1956, Section 37 (22United States Code Section 2709) authorizes Diplomatic

Security Special Agents to:

Conduct investigations concerning illegal passport or:visa issuance or use.

Provide protection and perorm protective unctions:related to the security and saety o

heads o a oreign state, ocial representatives o a5oreign government, and other distinguished visitorsto the United States while in the United States,

and o the Secretary o State, Deputy Secretary5o State, and ocial representatives o the U.S.Government, in the United States or abroad.

In carrying out these duties, Special Agents may carry:

rearms, execute ederal arrest and search warrants,

and serve summonses and subpoenas. In 2002,

Congress expanded the arrest authority o Special

Agents to include ederal oenses committed in their

presence or or any ederal elony.

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Contact Us

To request investigative assistance, contact the Diplomatic

Security Command Center in Washington, DC, or one o

the eld oces located throughout the United States.

Diplomatic Security Command Center: 1-866-217-2089

(Staffed 24 hours daily)

Diplomatic Security Oices in the United States

Atlanta, GA 4043313521

Boston, MA 6175658200

Bridgeport, CT 2035795701

Charleston, SC 8437461906

Chicago, IL 3123536163

Dallas, TX 2147670700

Denver, CO 3032362781

Greensboro, NC 3365474292

Honolulu, HI 8085228020

Houston, TX 7132093483

Los Angeles, CA 2138943290

West Los Angeles, CA 3102357937

Miami, FL 3055365781

New Orleans, LA 5045892010

New York, NY 2013468100

Philadelphia, PA 2158613370

Phoenix, AZ 6023647842

Portsmouth, NH 6033340519

St. Louis, MO 3145392721

San Diego, CA 6195576194

San Francisco, CA 4157051176

San Juan, PR 7877665704

Seattle, WA 2062207721

Washington, DC 5712269300

Visit us online at: www.diplomaticsecurity.state.gov

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Photo Credits

Page 7: poster, United States Marshals Service

All other photos: U.S. Department of State

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Public Affairs


U.S. Department of State

Washington, DC 20522-2008

571-345-2502

www.diplomaticsecurity.state.gov

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Publication 11187


Revised February 2008

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