U.S. Department of Justice - International

Official U.S. Department of Justice Twitter account focusing on international law enforcement. Privacy policy:

[U.S. Attorney DC @USAO_DC]

Today, through @USAttyPirro & our Scam Center Strike Force, the DOJ announced results from its first-of-its-kind "Disruption Week," partnering with the private sector to crush Southeast Asian cyber/crypto fraud.

Key impacts:
- 1.4M+ scam accounts disrupted
- $3.8M in crypto frozen
- Scammers arrested in Thailand
https://t.co/a2hyzqH9DK

[FBI Los Angeles @FBILosAngeles]

This week, as part of Economic Fury, and in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office and the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against an Iran-based procurement network that impersonated and defrauded U.S. companies in order to procure restricted goods for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and other sanctioned Iranian end users. MODAFL is responsible for research, development, and manufacturing across Iran’s defense enterprise.

An FBI Los Angeles investigation led to the seizure of 6 domains. Beginning in or about August 2019, an individual began a scheme using the domains to impersonate U.S. businesses, including a Los Angeles-based information technology company, to procure U.S.-origin network security and other IT products on behalf of OFAC-sanctioned entities. The individual created and registered numerous fraudulent, lookalike internet domains that were designed to impersonate the domains of legitimate U.S. companies, including an IT business based in Los Angeles, California.

This individual then created email accounts with these domains in the names of actual people who worked, or fictitious people who purportedly worked, at each spoofed entity. This individual used these fraudulent domains, email accounts, and assumed identities to contact U.S. manufacturers and vendors in the Central District of California and elsewhere. The individual falsely represented that he was acting on behalf of the legitimate U.S. company when seeking to acquire IT hardware, software, and software licenses, when in fact this individual was acting on behalf of another person and its Iranian clients.

👉@usao_losangeles @ustreasury @commercegov
👉Splash page posted on seized domains can be seen on this post. #EconomicFury
👉Additional details can be found here: https://t.co/e9O4BmmLQx

[US Attorney Pirro @USAttyPirro]

🚨Scam Center Strike Force Results🚨

✅ 1.4 MILLION+ scam accounts disrupted
✅ $3.8 MILLION in stolen cryptocurrency frozen
✅ Criminal infrastructure disrupted across Southeast Asia

Scammers stole billions from Americans. We’re fighting back—and pushing these criminal networks off the platforms they rely on. 🇺🇸

[Criminal Division @DOJCrimDiv]

Member of an International Money Laundering Organization Pleads GUILTY to Laundering Millions of Dollars in Drug Proceeds

According to court documents and proceedings, since at least 2021, Puquan Huang, 50, a Chinese national residing in Buford, Georgia, was a member of an international money laundering organization that engaged in a sophisticated trade-based money laundering scheme.

Full story: https://t.co/wbSsw3Ok8E

[DOJ Civil Division @DOJCivil]

Arizona Man Pleads GUILTY to Selling Illicit Chemical Substances: The substances were smuggled illegally from China into the U.S.

“The Justice Department and its partners will continue to actively pursue companies and individuals who sell smuggled and potentially harmful substances to American consumers,” said @AAGShumate. “Smuggled SARMs have no place in the national marketplace, and we will endeavor to keep these substances out of the reach of consumers.”

Read more: https://t.co/yanS080KiJ

[Criminal Division @DOJCrimDiv]

Scam Center Strike Force Announces Results of U.S. & Private Industry “Disruption Week”

“America is facing an unprecedented threat from industrial-scale, foreign organizations looking to prey on our citizens,” said @AAGDuva. “And unprecedented problems call for novel, bold solutions. As Disruption Week demonstrates, the Department’s Criminal Division will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with @USAttyPirro and her office, U.S. and foreign law enforcement, and any private sector firms that commit to joining the battle to save American resources from flowing to criminal groups abroad.”

Read more: https://t.co/GKmiMoeBCJ

[US Dept of State INL @StateINL]

Enough words; we need action. The United States calls on countries to take concrete steps to protect children from sextortion. President Trump’s Executive Order on Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against Americans directs action to combat sextortion, support victims, and hold perpetrators accountable. Strengthen laws. Prosecute offenders. Protect children online. #CCPCJ35

[U.S. Department of Justice @TheJusticeDept]

🚨Four Illegal Alien Tren de Aragua Members PLEAD GUILTY to Double Murder in 2024

The TdA members also pleaded guilty to shooting and injuring a third U.S. Citizen during the May 2024 Shooting in the Bronx following the Homeland Security Task Force Investigation.

“Thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners and prosecutors, these four Tren de Aragua gang members will now face justice for their part in the ruthless and senseless murders of two Americans and the attempted murder of a third person in the Bronx two years ago,” said Acting Attorney General @DAGToddBlanche. “As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted violent crimes and gangs in the Bronx, this case hits home for me. Tren de Aragua is a terrorist organization with no place and no future in the United States, and this Department of Justice will not stop until we have rooted out, dismantled and destroyed them.”

🔗: https://t.co/AJDoHaAHGA

[Acting AG Todd Blanche @DAGToddBlanche]

Today, Jamshid Ghomi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who lives in a $35 million mansion in Orange County, California, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with selling computer technology to Iranian companies and Iran’s government — including technology to help with Iran’s military and nuclear program.

These allegations assert that the defendant violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, aided one of our nation’s enemies, supported Iran’s nuclear program, and got rich doing it. Not only is he being arrested today, but we also are beginning the process of seizing his mansion, which was purchased with his illegal proceeds. Thanks to the work of @USAttyEssayli’s office, @CommerceGov, and @IRS_CI’s Los Angeles Field Office, he will face the full force of justice.

[National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice @DOJNatSec]

CEO of Iran Tech Company Arrested on Federal Charge of Supplying U.S. Equipment to Iran’s Nuclear and Military Establishment

“As alleged, Ghomi enriched himself by supplying U.S. technology to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and other sanctioned entities responsible for the Iran’s nuclear program,” said Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division will hold accountable those who violate our laws to further Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”

Ghomi funded the construction of his Orange County, California, mansion with the proceeds of his sanctions-evasion scheme.

Read more: https://t.co/oZvIUwPPOG

[U.S. Embassy Zagreb @USEmbZagreb]

Criminal networks use crypto to move fast. Law enforcement must move faster. Last week, our @DOJCrimDiv #ICHIP teams in 🇭🇷 🇷🇴 & 🇳🇱 joined officials from 🇧🇬 🇭🇷 🇪🇪 🇱🇻 🇱🇹 🇲🇰 🇵🇱 🇷🇴 🇷🇸 🇸🇰, U.S. law enforcement, @StateINL & @TheJusticeDept to disrupt crypto-enabled transnational crime and fraud.

[U.S. Attorney SC @USAO_SC]

“With our Homeland Security Task Force partners, we are stopping the influx of dangerous, illegal narcotics at the source,” said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. “Dismantling drug organizations like this makes South Carolina safer.”

🔗https://t.co/5WNorw669f

[U.S. Attorney EDMI @USAO_MIE]

Feds charge foreign nationals working at the National Institutes of Health with smuggling monkeypox into the United States and lying about it
https://t.co/iLYr8t0qOz

[FBI @FBI]

CASE UPDATE from @FBIColumbia: Leader of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Pleads Guilty to Supplying Dozens of Kilograms of Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine from Mexican Cartel

Rafael Contreras Ramos, 40, of Mexico, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances in South Carolina. Evidence presented in court showed Contreras was a leader of an international drug trafficking organization that was responsible for bringing more than 40 kilograms of cocaine, 14 kilograms of fentanyl, and 1 kilogram of heroin into South Carolina for further distribution.

The #FBI identified Contreras’ organization as a source of supply during a joint investigation with local, state, and federal agencies. Agents confirmed that Contreras and his associates had been trafficking narcotics since at least 2016 until its operation was disrupted by federal charges in 2022.

Learn more: https://t.co/1VtI9XO4bE

[Acting AG Todd Blanche @DAGToddBlanche]

Yesterday, following a months-long investigation by the Homeland Security Task Force, authorities discovered a sophisticated cross-border tunnel connecting Tijuana, Mexico, to a building posing as a retail store in Otay Mesa, California, near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

As a result of the investigation, @SDCAnews charged four individuals (two were illegal aliens) with allegedly conspiring to distribute more than one ton of cocaine, with an estimated value of $45 million.

This case reflects our unwavering commitment to dismantling cartels, stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities, and keep American families safe.

[U.S. Department of Justice - International @USDOJ_Intl]

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Canadian Men for Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud. @TheJusticeDept Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance with securing the arrest and May 28 extradition from Canada of James Rasmussen to the United States.
https://t.co/HcWwSv6YIU

[U.S. Mission to the UN (Vienna) @usunvie]

At the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the United States called for urgent international action against the transnational sextortion of children.

With American families paying close attention—families who have lost their children to this crime—the United States honored their grief, their courage, and their call for accountability. We will continue working to protect children, pursue predators, and urge governments and platforms to do more to prevent these tragedies. #CCPCJ35

Read the 🇺🇸 statement here: https://t.co/6oQWBDIEwt

@StateINL @State_IO @TheJusticeDept @UNODC @HSI_HQ @NCMEC

[U.S. Embassy Tirana @USEmbassyTirana]

U.S. law enforcement is working with law enforcement officials from Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia to combat transnational crime, terrorism financing, and money laundering. At a program led by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) Program and funded by the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, officials from the IRS Criminal Investigation explained how to use financial investigation tools to uncover illegal activities, secure evidence for prosecution and seize ill-gotten gains. This not only helps 🇦🇱 🇽🇰 and 🇲🇰 ensure their own safety but also enhances their ability to thwart dangerous groups before they become stronger and target the United States.

[US Attorney CAS @SDCAnews]

With a ton of cocaine behind him, USA Adam Gordon today announced that four people were arrested and charged with trafficking more than $45 million worth of cocaine through a sophisticated cross-border tunnel with U.S. side located in a sham retail shop called "Buy 4 Less" near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

[US Attorney CAS @SDCAnews]

Video of subterranean drug tunnel discovered in Southern District of California https://t.co/ZdWWs0q04z via @YouTube