Diplomatic Security

For Immediate Release   —   October 30, 2024   —   Washington, D.C.                On Sept. 19, 2024, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani presented special agents and investigators with the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Houston Field Office (HFO) with two Superior Performance by a Litigative Team awards for their outstanding collaboration and work on two separate investigations involving human trafficking. In the first case, DSS HFO investigators discovered that three Cuban nationals had smuggled women into the United States from Cuba, then forced them to perform sex work at Houston-area strip clubs purportedly to repay their debts. After a complex investigation, the three individuals were convicted of sex trafficking, racketeering, and related crimes. DSS personnel recognized for this case include Supervisory Special Agent Katherine Langston; Special Agents Eladio Escobar, Thomas Gunter, Pejman Saadatzadeh; and Investigative Specialist Michelle Lundby. The second case involved a Honduran national illegally residing in Houston who kidnapped a 15-year-old girl, transported her across state lines, and subjected her to forced intoxication and sexual abuse. During the investigation, DSS’ overseas criminal investigations unit at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City assisted by locating and interviewing a key witness, which was instrumental in securing a 50-year sentence for the criminal. DSS personnel recognized for this investigation include Special Agents Eladio Escobar and Alvin Fielding; Supervisory Special Agents Katherine Langston and Edward Allen; Investigative Specialist Michelle Lundby; and Criminal Fraud Investigator Luis Alvarez. Both DSS-led investigations were collaborative efforts spearheaded under the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a multi-agency organization that coordinates anti-human trafficking efforts across local, state, and federal levels. DSS HFO is a key member of the alliance. The U.S. attorney’s recognition highlights the dedication and professionalism of the Houston Field Office’s team, whose efforts continue to safeguard justice and pursue criminals that exploit the most vulnerable populations. # # # The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the law enforcement and security arm of the U.S. Department of State. With more than 270 locations across the globe, including more than 30 offices within the United States, DSS is the most widely represented law enforcement agency in the world. For more information, please contact the DSS Public Affairs team at ds-press@state.gov.  

October 25, 2024 – The strong security cooperation between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago has scored another win with the extradition of a dual citizen to face charges for crimes against children. On October 23, Farzan Mohammed was extradited to the United States to face charges for 128 counts of sex crime offenses against children. He will face a possible sentence of over 40 years in prison. He was charged for the crimes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in June 2023. A warrant of arrest was issued for Mohammed in Pennsylvania in 2023 for crimes committed against children including rape, sexual assault, and child pornography. Mohammed fled the United States to Trinidad and Tobago in June 2023 after being charged. U.S. law enforcement authorities requested a provisional arrest warrant for Mohammed, who was arrested in South Trinidad on April 9, 2024. The TT Court of Appeal dismissed Mohammed’s challenge to his extradition in September 2024, and he was committed into custody pending his extradition. On October 4, 2024, Reginald Armour, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, signed a Warrant of Removal for Mohammed. Mohammed was escorted from Port of Spain to the United States by marshals from the United States Marshal Services and special agents from the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service. Playing key roles and critical to the successful extradition were the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the Central Authority of the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago Customs and Immigration, the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Ambassador Candace Bond said, “This latest extradition once again highlights the excellent and productive working relationship we currently enjoy between our U.S. federal law enforcement team at the embassy and all elements of Trinidad and Tobago law enforcement. We have made great strides together in our joint efforts to address crime in both our countries and bringing criminals to justice is the epitome of this success. We look forward to continuing this great partnership and many more successes like this one to come.” 15 Queen’s Park West, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago – Tel: (868) 822-5585 PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION

Karen Lass was named the deputy assistant secretary and assistant director of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) for international programs on October 15, 2024. In this role, she oversees security and law enforcement policy and programs for more than 270 U.S. diplomatic posts overseas.  She is responsible for more than $2 billion in resources, personnel, and budgets to facilitate the safe and successful conduct of U.S. diplomacy. “DSS has the largest global presence of any U.S. federal law enforcement organization, and our special agents and security professionals are assigned to regional security offices in every U.S. embassy and in most U.S. consulates around the world,” Ms. Lass said.  “The regional security office manages a range of physical, technical, cyber, and personnel security programs to reduce threats to U.S. embassies and consulates and the Department of State workforce.” Ms. Lass most recently served as the Senior Regional Security Officer at the U.S. Mission to Pakistan.  In that role, she served as the Department of State’s primary point of contact with host nation law enforcement and security agencies and worked closely with the U.S. consular affairs office to provide timely information on local safety and security conditions. Prior to this assignment, Ms. Lass served as the Senior Regional Security Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Kingdom; Regional Director for International Programs for Africa; Senior Deputy Regional Security Officer, Mission Baghdad, Iraq; Regional Security Officer at U.S. Embassies in Kyiv, Ukraine; Khartoum, Sudan; Kathmandu, Nepal; Maputo, Mozambique; and Assistant Regional Security Officer at the U.S. Embassy Dakar, Senegal.  She also served as the special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Diplomatic Security and as a Special Agent in San Francisco. She is the recipient of numerous Department of State Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Association in 2017.  She also had the pleasure of being selected Marine Security Guard Region One’s RSO of the Year while serving in Kyiv.  While in London, Ms. Lass received the 2022 Public Sector Distinguished Achievement Award as co-chair of the United Kingdom Overseas Security Advisory Council. Prior to joining the Department of State, Ms. Lass served in the U.S. Navy (enlisted and officer) for nearly ten years and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Sri Lanka. Ms. Lass earned a B.A. at San Diego State University and graduated with a M.A. from University of Central Oklahoma. The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the law enforcement and security arm of the U.S. Department of State. DSS has the largest global presence of any U.S. law enforcement organization, operating at more than 270 U.S. diplomatic posts in over 170 countries, and in more than 30 U.S. cities. DSS leads worldwide security and law enforcement efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy, safeguard national security interests, and investigate transnational crimes To learn more about the Diplomatic Security Service, please visit diplomaticsecurity.state.gov. For media queries, please contact DS-Press@state.gov  

By Barbara Gleason Speaking at a May 9 special ceremony honoring 16 fallen heroes whose names were recently engraved on the Diplomatic Security (DS) Memorial Wall, Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid tribute to those security personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the people, the facilities, and the information that make U.S. diplomacy possible. “A Marine Corporal who just proposed to his fiancée over Thanksgiving. A Tunisian police officer remembered simply as a ‘kind and compassionate’ person,” said Secretary Blinken in recognizing several of the fallen. “A local guard in Jeddah who left behind three sons, including one who now stands watch at a U.S. diplomatic facility in Saudi Arabia, just as his father did.” Secretary Blinken also poignantly noted that on any given day, other than his family, the first person he is likely to see in the morning and the last person in the evening is a member of Diplomatic Security, “the team that I’ve had the immense privilege to work with over these past three and a half years are like family to us.” Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Gentry Smith, who hosted the ceremony, provided opening remarks. “It’s a special day to recognize our own fallen as represented on the DS Memorial,” said Assistant Secretary Smith. “While local and federal law enforcement officers face danger enforcing the laws of U.S. cities and towns, we in diplomatic security face a different kind of threat as we advance our mission to provide a safe and secure environment in which to conduct foreign policy.” Assistant Secretary Smith also acknowledged members of the U.S. military who have died in service to diplomatic security, noting that “today, we honor Marine Security Guard Corporal Elwyn Ramirez, and we also honor 12 other MSGs and five other military officers who died defending our embassies over the years—all the way back to the Vietnam War.” The Assistant Secretary highlighted the important role that our embassies and the surrounding communities play in honoring those who died in their service. One of the 16 honored, Major Toufik Missaoui, with the Tunisian Public Order Brigade, was killed by a suicide bomber as he protected the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. Embassy employees, local citizens, and others raised funds to help the family, renamed the street in front of the embassy for the fallen officer, and broke ground for a monument honoring him. The Secretary also paid special tribute to host nation personnel who support U.S. embassies overseas. “Fifteen of these 16 men were local personnel supporting our missions in Afghanistan and Djibouti, Jamaica, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia,” said Secretary Blinken. “It shows the extraordinary partnership we have in our embassies around the world with our local staff, our local teams as I travel around the world getting a chance to meet with our embassies, our personnel, the locally engaged staff, and notably those who are working to provide security. They are the lifeblood of our missions. We could not do our diplomacy without them.” The Secretary also praised the training that DS conducts at its Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC), noting that this training could mean the difference between someone returning safely home or another name being added to a memorial. “We know we can never reduce that risk down to zero, but what we can do is to manage these challenges smartly and responsibly. And that’s exactly what Diplomatic Security personnel are doing in over 170 countries around the world,” said Secretary Blinken as the ceremony ended. More than 80 senior State Department officials, DS personnel, and representatives from the countries of the 16 fallen attended the gathering, which took place at Diplomatic Security Service headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. For more information about the fallen, visit the DS Memorial website.

By Barbara Gleason, DSS Public Affairs When the Olympic flame reaches the cauldron to kick off the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, it also ignites one of the most carefully planned security operations in the world. The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), responsible for law enforcement and security for the U.S. Department of State, is tasked with leading the International Security Event Group to help secure Paris 2024 and previous Games. Working with host nation security, the group coordinates U.S. government interagency efforts to ensure that U.S. citizens remain safe while attending international events like the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Among DSS security responsibilities, special agents and other personnel staff help secure competition venues, athlete villages, a U.S. government security operations center, and a host nation law enforcement center. “Nations often use their medal counts when determining their success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Gentry Smith. “When it comes to security, DSS strives for ‘zero’ as a winning number—‘zero’ significant security incidents.” DSS has been involved with the protective security of U.S. Olympic athletes since the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal, Canada—the first Games after the 1972 Black September terrorist attack in Munich, Germany, where members of the Israeli Olympic team were held hostage and killed. At the 1984 Summer Games, DSS had an expanded security role as the host nation law enforcement lead, which meant adding protection for visiting foreign dignitaries to its other responsibilities when the Games took place in Los Angeles. More serious concerns about the security of U.S. Olympic athletes arose in 1991 after the defection of several Cuban athletes to the United States several months before the Pan American Games, which were hosted by Cuba that year. U.S. Olympic officials were concerned that the Cubans would harass U.S. athletes at future Olympic Games and exploit relationships they made afterward. The U.S. Olympic Committee turned to DSS personnel who briefed Pan Am Games athletes on security issues in Tampa before they flew to Havana. After the Havana Pan Am Games, training played an expanded role as DSS developed a more formalized program, with an emphasis on briefings and other preparation before Games events. In 1992, DSS created a specific position responsible for the security of U.S. athletes for the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. For the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the DSS role consisted largely of protection of dignitaries and the Israeli Olympic team. But the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, although perpetrated by domestic terrorists, prompted DSS to continue to expand its security role in future Games. As part of this expanded role, in preparation for the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, DSS created the permanent position of Olympic security coordinator who focused on working with and coordinating assistance with Australian security and law enforcement agencies; serving as a liaison with the U.S. business community; and assisting the U.S. Olympic team. After the success in Sydney, DSS continued to expand its coordination and preparation for the Olympics and similar events. It initiated an exchange program for the host country’s police forces during the years preceding the next Olympics, and DS created a security event training program to coordinate protective security. Throughout the next two decades, DSS has continued to solidify its role in security and protection at the Games, harnessing new techniques and technologies to ward off potential security incidents and ensure a smoothly running and safe venue at the games. After September 11, 2001, the U.S. government approach to Olympic security changed dramatically. The U.S. Secret Service was designated the lead security planner for all domestic special events, including the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games.  However, within the increasing global threat environment, DSS developed a newly enhanced approach to Olympic security overseas; under the authority of Presidential Directive 62, DSS was designated by the National Security Council as the lead agency responsible for coordinating security assistance and support to those nations hosting the Olympic Games overseas. In 2001, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee signed an agreement guaranteeing and protecting the organization of the Paralympic Games and ensuring that, from the Beijing 2008 Games onwards, the Paralympic Games would always be held shortly after the Olympic Games and use the same sporting venues, facilities and Athletes’ Village, and that entry fees and travel costs would be covered to the same extent.  Every future host city from that point on would organize both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2010, DSS led the 150-member U.S. government interagency security program for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics. During that year, DSS signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with the committee, formalizing the DSS protection responsibilities for Team USA during major international events. DSS continued to lead U.S. interagency security efforts at the London 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. That year, a new DSS social media analytical unit played a major role supporting the DSS protective mission at the Games. The unit addressed the growing number of threats received via social media. DSS began planning three years in advance to prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Fears of a terrorist attack were heightened following a bombing in Volgograd just prior to the start of the Games. In addition, the tense political climate between the United States and Russia made security planning even more challenging. The security operations at the interagency Joint Operations Center marked the first time that a U.S. Olympic command center had access to live, direct feeds of security video and sensory information in real time. Since the 1990s, another important resource has been the DSS Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a free public-private sector partnership available to all U.S.-incorporated organizations operating overseas. Leading up to and throughout each of the Games, OSAC holds online and in-person briefings, issues regular situation reports, and hosts a dedicated communications channel to help keep security representatives from U.S. private sector organizations at the Games connected with DSS and each other for enhanced risk mitigation and threat management capabilities. The DSS role in security also has sometimes extended beyond the actual Games themselves. In 2008, for example, DSS provided protection for China’s ambassador to the United States and an official delegation of Chinese Olympic organizers during the Olympic Torch Run in San Francisco leading up to the 2008 Games in Beijing. DSS also deployed 60 special agents for the ceremony. Fast forward to 2024: all the security advances over the past 38 years have set the stage for a safe and well-managed security operation during the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in France. “We are confident in our collaboration with French law enforcement and in our coordination with U.S. federal law enforcement to make sure Team USA competes in a safe and secure environment,” said Smith. Visitors traveling to the Games are encouraged to visit the U.S. Embassy Paris Special Events webpage to learn about travel requirements, cultural considerations, and to enroll in our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).  

Office of the Spokesperson HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Rewards for Justice – Reward Offer for Information on North Korean IT Workers hide Rewards for Justice – Reward Offer for Information on North Korean IT Workers Media Note May 16, 2024 The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the disruption of financial mechanisms of persons engaged in certain activities that support the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Such activities include money laundering that supports the Government of North Korea or any senior official or person acting for or on behalf of that government. The Department is seeking information on North Korean information technology (IT) workers using aliases Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, and Haoran Xu, and their manager Zhonghua. These individuals engaged in a scheme that enabled Han, Jin, and Xu to obtain illicit telework employment with U.S. companies using false identities belonging to more than 60 real U.S. persons. The illicit scheme generated at least $6.8 million for the DPRK. From about October 2020 until October 2023, U.S. national Christina Chapman helped Han, Jin, and Xu obtain work as remote software and applications developers with companies in a range of sectors and industries. They also attempted — but failed — to gain similar employment at two U.S. government agencies. These IT workers are linked to the DPRK’s Munitions Industry Department, which oversees the development of the DPRK’s ballistic missiles, weapons production, and research and development programs. Chapman assisted the North Korean IT workers in acquiring valid identities of real U.S. citizens. She also received and hosted laptop computers issued to the IT workers by U.S. employers to make it appear that the overseas workers were located in the United States and assisted the workers in connecting remotely to the U.S. companies’ IT networks on a daily basis. She also helped launder the proceeds from the scheme by receiving, processing, and distributing paychecks from the U.S. firms to these IT workers and others. More information about this reward offer is located on the Rewards for Justice website, and on X (formerly known as Twitter) at https://twitter.com/RFJ_USA; https://twitter.com/RFJ_korean; and https://twitter.com/RFJ_mandarin.  We encourage anyone with information on Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, Haoran Xu, Zhonghua, Christina Chapman, or associated individuals or entities to contact the Rewards for Justice office via its Tor-based tips-reporting channel at: he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad.onion (Tor browser required). RFJ is an effective national security tool and is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.  Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid more than $250 million to more than125 people across the globe who provided information that helped prevent terrorism, bring terrorist leaders to justice, and resolve threats to U.S. national security. Of that amount, RFJ has paid rewards of $5 million each to two individuals whose information helped disrupt an illicit financial scheme that benefitted the DPRK. Tags Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs North Korea Office of the Spokesperson Rewards for Justice