NEW YORK – Federal agents from the U.S. Secret Service have dismantled a series of electronic installations distributed across New York City. These installations were allegedly utilized to surreptitiously transmit assassination threats against top U.S. officials, reported law enforcement officers on Tuesday. Authorities have uncovered connections to foreign nationals, narcotics syndicates, human trafficking rings, and organized crime networks.
Agents located over 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across five sites within a 35-mile radius of New York City. Additionally, they confiscated 80 grams of cocaine, illegal firearms, computers, and mobile devices.
An unnamed official revealed that the networks had the potential to support software attacks, encrypted communications, and standard communications.
“This network possesses the capacity to deactivate cell phone towers. It could facilitate ‘denial of service’ strikes, effectively preventing emergency services or police from reaching a location if necessary,” disclosed an anonymous official. “Furthermore, it could facilitate anonymous, encrypted communications.”
Authorities mentioned that agents are meticulously examining the SIM cards to identify the network’s creators. “Our task now is to scrutinize every call, text, and search conducted on these SIM cards,” stated one anonymous official.
The breakthrough in identifying the network occurred when the Secret Service observed a surge in death threats targeting the public officials they safeguard. Officials refrained from disclosing the identities of the threatened officials.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the NYPD, as well as other state and local law enforcement, participated in the investigation, which is ongoing.
