FBI Director Patel touts Summer Heat 2.0 haul as bureau touts historic manhunt results
Follow-ups – Homeland News –
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday the bureau’s second annual summer violent-crime surge produced 8,900 arrests, 5,000 firearms seized, more than 1,400 child victims located or identified, 2,700 federal indictments, more than 680 kilograms of fentanyl and over 27,000 kilograms of cocaine recovered over three months.
Patel delivered the figures in a weekly message to FBI employees, calling Operation Summer Heat 2.0 a “hugely successful operation for the second summer in a row” and crediting every field office.
“Over the last three months you delivered — with 8,900 arrests, 5,000 firearms seized — double last year’s firearms results, more than 1,400 child victims located or identified, 2,700 federal indictments, more than 680 kilos of fentanyl seized — enough to kill over 52 million people, and over 27,000 kilos of cocaine recovered,” Patel said.
He said the fentanyl seized was enough to kill more than 52 million people and that firearms recoveries doubled last year’s Summer Heat results.
Patel tied the operation to what he described as the largest reduction in violent crime in American history under President Donald Trump. On Thursday he joined Attorney General Todd Blanche and families of homicide victims at a Justice Department summit on victims of violent crime.
“Alongside our interagency partners we are taking a whole of government approach to dismantle drug trafficking organizations and prevent dangerous drugs from destroying our communities,” Patel said.
He said FBI use of artificial intelligence has increased more than 600% over the past 18 months. On Tuesday he addressed industry leaders at the Freedom Tech Summit in Washington on how the bureau is “aggressively leveraging technology and enhancing its AI tools” to protect the public.
Patel said FBI Miami and partners carried out what he described as the largest foreign transfer of custody in FBI history, bringing 18 high-value targets tied to the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse to the United States to face charges. Federal prosecutors in South Florida announced that transfer last weekend.
FBI Birmingham located and arrested Lance Michael Beck in Thailand within eight hours after he fled the country, Patel said. Beck is accused of sexually assaulting his minor daughter and producing videos of the abuse. Agents returned him to the United States.
FBI New York secured the return of Uzbek national Davud Ansariy, described as the leader of a network known as the “Tea Party,” who had been a fugitive for more than 10 years. He now faces charges of conspiracy and providing material support to ISIS, Patel said.
On Tuesday in Mexico, FBI Tampa’s Homeland Security Task Force, the legal attaché in Mexico City, the FBI’s Crisis and Strategic Team and Mexican partners arrested Jose Angel Rivera Zazueta, whom Patel identified as a high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel member who trafficked about 1,200 kilograms of fentanyl precursor chemicals annually.
Patel also cited Operation Riptide, which extradited six cybercriminals to the United States, and the arrest of six FBI Most Wanted fraudsters in three months.
“We are manhunting at a historic level — and delivering historic results,” he said. “There is no corner on this planet where an adversary can hide.”
FBI Jacksonville prevented a planned mass shooting at a Clay County school by a 14-year-old boy after investigating a tip, Patel said. FBI Anchorage seized domains tied to “NightmareStresser,” described as one of the world’s longest-running DDoS-for-hire services used in hundreds of thousands of attacks, as part of Operation PowerOFF.
The Washington Field Office aided Turkish authorities in identifying and disrupting an ISIS supporter planning an attack with a firearm and explosives, and helped Hungarian police capture a person who posted threats of a school shooting, Patel said.
He recognized a Criminal Justice Information Services employee who, while driving to work, jumped into floodwaters to rescue two people whose car had been swept off the road.
The week’s photo, Patel said, showed FBI Cyber Action Team members boarding a Texas-bound oil tanker compromised in a cyberattack and working with the Coast Guard to eradicate the threat.
Patel recorded the message from the mezzanine at FBI headquarters, where employees work out to stay “fit and ready for the mission.” He closed by thanking the Cyber Division, the Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Infrastructure Branch for working around the clock this week to diagnose a potential compromise of the FBIJobs platform.
“These types of investigations can take time, so thank you for all you’re doing to safeguard our systems,” Patel said. “Keep putting the mission first.”
