Countermeasures
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Ajo Station and Pima County Sheriff Department deputies recently arrested two Mexican nationals and one U.S. citizen after a thwarted marijuana smuggling attempt near Ajo, Arizona.
Agents following up on a suspicious activity report along State... Read More »
In light of allegations that a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) initiative targeting Hezbollah drug trafficking was improperly handled, Attorney General Jeff Sessions renewed his support of a full review.
The initiative, known as Project Cassandra, as launched in 2008 in response to evidence that... Read More »
A Tuscon, Arizona man was recently charged in U.S. District Court with the transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury, high-speed flight from a Border Patrol checkpoint, assault on a federal officer and use of a firearm
Court documents allege that Roberto Ramirez, 21,... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers used biometric verification to prevent a Ghanaian man posing as a U.S. citizen from entering the country at Washington Dulles International Airport on New Year’s Day.
The man, who had been denied U.S. travel visas in 2013 and 2016 because of fraud,... Read More »
The Consortium for Verification Technology highlighted how students from partner universities contribute to nuclear nonproliferation research conducted at national laboratories during a recent annual meeting held at the University of Michigan.
Through the Consortium for Verification, the... Read More »
In recognition of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Department of Defense(DoD) highlighted a program on Tuesday that trains military veterans to help law enforcers identify and curb online child exploitation.
Veterans who are wounded, ill or transitioning are trained... Read More »
The ability of the Ebola virus to copy itself and spread through hosts can be “switched off” by manipulating a host factor enzyme, according to a recent study by European researchers.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Phillips Universität Marburg in Germany discovered that... Read More »
New best practices recently released by the wireless industry group CTIA outline steps for local governments to help maintain and restore wireless services during natural disasters and emergencies.
The guidelines call for better coordination and communication between wireless service providers... Read More »
Experiencing an escalating threat level of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks across its region, the European Commission’s related preparedness plan is extremely important, a London-based expert recently told Homeland Preparedness News.
“I consider this to be... Read More »
All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories accepted a Radio Access Network (RAN) buildout plan for the FirstNet wireless broadband network for first responders by the time a 90-decision period came to a close on Dec. 28.
Congress approved a bill establishing FirstNet in... Read More »
Twenty-two districts in Uganda were recently identified by researchers as cholera “hotspots” that should be targeted by cholera control programs in the country and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health identified the areas as high-risk... Read More »
Twenty-one members of a New York-based drug trafficking organization were indicted Dec. 27 following a 12-month wiretap investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Violent Gang Unit (VGU).
The individual face a range of charges, including first-, second-, and third-degree... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported Wednesday that CBP officers in the Rio Grande Valley Sector interrupted four alien smuggling attempts this past weekend, which resulted in failures to yield to law enforcement authorities.
“Transnational criminal organizations continue to... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Lockheed Martin a $110 million contract on Wednesday to develop a low-cost, subsonic cruise missile with swarming capabilities, known as the Gray Wolf.
Lockheed Martin was awarded a five-year, phase 1 contract to develop and demonstrate the Gray... Read More »
The Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs will be reauthorized through fiscal year 2023 under a bill that the U.S. Senate recently approved.
The Fire Grants Reauthorization Act would ensure that the nation’s fire and... Read More »
Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation recently advocated for the Missile Defense Agency to name the Michigan National Guard Fort Custer Training Center in Augusta as a ground-based midcourse missile defense site.
The lawmakers made the plea in a letter to U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen.... Read More »
San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Defense (DoD) for its failure to report dishonorable discharges and criminal conviction information to the national criminal background check system for gun sales.
The military is required to... Read More »
Washington State University (WSU) students taking part in a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) internship program that promotes the development of equipment for nonproliferation research and training recently developed new technology that addresses safeguards research engineering... Read More »
A former leader of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia drug-trafficking ring was deported to Columbia on Tuesday after spending eight years in federal custody for conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine in the United States.
Hebert Veloza Garcia, 50, was deported to his native Columbia to... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) made two firearms purchases on the dark web without disclosing required background information during a recent review of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ability to regulate online firearm sales.
The GAO review was... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would have more access to portable chemical screening devices to stem the flow of fentanyl across the nation’s borders under a bill that recently gained Senate approval.
The International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming... Read More »
Though scientists have been working steadily toward understanding and prevention of Zika since 2016, a recent report published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases makes it clear that many questions remain.
For one thing, scientists cannot yet say that another Zika pandemic will not re-emerge,... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded 1,039 other transaction agreements (OTAs) from 2012 to 2016 and improved oversight of those agreements over that time, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) review.
OTAs are not subject to federal contract laws.... Read More »
As part of an enforcement program aiming to disrupt illicit trafficking along the Miami River, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have seized thousands of pounds of cocaine and six vessels over the last three years, CBP said in a recent press release.
This summer, CBP officers... Read More »
Ten analytical chemists who work in laboratories that support or have plans to support customs services around the world recently completed an Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) training course in the Netherlands.
The inaugural training course, which was held from Dec.... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators recently introduced a bill to improve election security and protect against foreign interference in U.S. elections.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), James Lankford (R-OK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Lindsey Graham... Read More »
The House of Representatives approved legislation last week that would reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to place a greater emphasis on pre-disaster planning and mitigation.
The bill, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), was approved as part of a larger emergency... Read More »
As part of their required by executive order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have released a quarterly Alien Incarceration Report, in which they found 94 percent of confirmed aliens in custody are unlawfully present.
Additionally, they determined that... Read More »
Authorities of the Counterterrorism Advisory Board (CTAB), which coordinates the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) various intelligence, operational and policy-making functions, would be extended for four years under bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate last week.
Established... Read More »
Acting Chief of the United States Border Patrol Carla Provost recently announced that Robert L. Boatright was named the new Chief Patrol Agent of the Big Bend Sector.
“I am looking forward to working with the Border Patrol Agents and professional support staff of the Big Bend Sector as well... Read More »
Waning U.S. federal and state funding for public health over the last 15 years has left many states ill-prepared to respond to acts of bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks and natural disasters, according to a recent report by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).
The annual report,... Read More »
The Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Office of Field Operations at the Laredo Port of Entry announced measures being taken to accommodate an expected influx of travelers during the holiday season on Wednesday.
Travelers are encouraged to apply for I-94 tourist permits online ahead of time. The... Read More »
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) program recently developed a reusable Aircraft Explosive Testing Simulator to support the testing of explosive vulnerabilities in new generation commercial aircraft.
S&T’s Commercial Aircraft Vulnerability and... Read More »
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently granted Engility Holdings Inc. a position on the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) Joint Enterprise Research Development Acquisition and Procurement Omnibus contract.
JPEO-CBD manages the military’s... Read More »
Operating under the requirements of the FDA “Animal Rule,” the biopharmaceutical company Soligenix, Inc. has identified biomarkers for ricin toxin vaccine (RiVax) testing.
Though RiVax was originally invented at the University of Texas Southwestern, Soligenix has seen a number of... Read More »
