COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Federal agencies have set up a task force in central Ohio to investigate and arrest dangerous criminals in the country illegally.
The goal of the new task force, headed by the Department of Homeland Security, is to find and arrest known violent criminals, drug traffickers, and gang members who have already committed crimes in the area.
In addition to Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is part of the effort.
“We see this as a mechanism with a sense of urgency to keep Americans safe, to keep people in the Columbus area safe,” Brian Mulcahy, special agent in charge of the DEA Columbus District, said.
The initiative puts all government resources together to work on the same goal, Mulcahy said, adding the new task force doesn’t change the agency’s mission -- it is just amplifying it.
“We're still laser-focused on fentanyl and, you know, investigating and bringing to justice the largest, most violent and the most dangerous traffickers affecting our communities," Mulcahy said.
He said the country is currently in one of the most dangerous drug epidemics in history and the DEA’s role in the new task force will be turning over known fentanyl traffickers or gang members to the federal partners.
"What is happening is these subjects will be passed to this task force,” Mulcahy said. “It will work quickly in a multi-agency environment to hopefully get these subjects off the street quickly.”
Since President Donald Trump took office last month, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested thousands of criminals nationwide, but some of the president's orders have put local immigrant advocacy groups on alert.
Mulcahy was asked if the task force held any mass immigration raids in central Ohio or is planning to do any.
“No and from what I've seen with this task force, there's no mass raids planned,” he said. “To my knowledge, right now, there's no initiatives targeting work sites, targeting families, targeting children or schools. You know, everything that I've seen and the subjects who we are looking to investigate on this new task force, we're talking about dangerous criminals, you know, gang members, drug traffickers, fentanyl traffickers.”
Mulcahy said DEA agents nationwide have been granted US Code Title VIII, a federal authority which deals with immigration laws and regulations and allows agents to assist in these investigations. However, he said they are not the experts in immigration and are there for support and resources.
Mulcahy said that to his knowledge, no DEA agents in central Ohio have been involved in any arrests but they could be called on to help at any time.
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