NDIC probes range from drugs to terrorism

BY MIKE FAHER

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a team of analysts based in Johnstown played a critical role.

Their work grabbed no headlines, and they had no visible presence at the three attack sites.

But document-exploitation experts at the National Drug Intelligence Center assisted the FBI by analyzing more than 75,000 subpoenaed documents related to potential terrorist financing.

“The work NDIC produces continues to initiate actionable leads and identify avenues of investigation,” an FBI official wrote in a November 2001 letter.

“NDIC has integrated seamlessly with the FBI investigation and has enhanced the way the FBI will investigate future financial cases.”

Since NDIC’s inception in the early 1990s, analysts have assisted hundreds of cases by poring over documents and probing electronic devices, searching for key bits of evidence.

In just the past few years, members of what is now called the NDIC’s Document and Media Exploitation Branch have participated in multiple complex missions for a variety of federal agencies.

Examples include:

• In fiscal year 2007, document-exploitation staff assisted in a probe of a Colombian drug kingpin; examined links between Philippines drug traffickers and terrorist organizations; and participated in Operation Raw Deal – a case officials called “the largest steroid-enforcement action in U.S. history.”

• October 2007: An Army officer accused of crimes in Iraq, Lt. Col. William Steele, is sentenced to prison time. NDIC analysts supported the case by examining phone records and “nearly 12,000 classified documents that existed alone or as attachments to e-mail files,” officials said.

• November 2007: Analysts identify assets valued at more than $5 million in connection with a “multinational investigation of a major international money-laundering organization” in the U.S., Mexico, China and Switzerland.

• December 2007: The Johnstown center supports a probe of a terrorist organization. Analysts “identified 70 individuals with direct connections to the conspirators and provided 92 linked media files – including photo identification – documenting the links,” officials said.

• July and August 2008: In support of a Department of Justice probe, NDIC finds more than 800 suspected child pornography photographs “and provided investigators with important information on conspirators’ financial assets and leads regarding additional potential targets,” center administrators said.

• August and September 2008: Analysts identify assets controlled by a South American drug-trafficking organization, including more than 300 properties and 100 bank accounts.