Drug Czar discusses 2020 Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy spearheaded by Jenniffer González

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Jim Carroll's second day in Puerto Rico - a visit coordinated by Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón - focused on the implementation of the 2020 Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy, which articulates the U.S. strategy to reduce drug trafficking and related threats in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The publication of the 2020 Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy comes after the Resident Commissioner and Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) secured legislative language requiring ONDCP to update the document, which was last published in 2015. The Strategy provides the United States framework to address drug-related threats in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and establishes three main goals: countering criminal networks, strengthening interdiction and law enforcement capabilities, and targeting specific drug transportation routes.

Following the publication of the Strategy, Representative González-Colón met with Director Carroll and reiterated the need for additional federal law enforcement resources, personnel, and assets in Puerto Rico, particularly throughout the southern and eastern regions of the Island. This to better confront the threats posed by drugs coming in from Venezuela and other areas in the Caribbean. Director Carroll accepted the Resident Commissioner's invitation to visit Puerto Rico in order to see firsthand what is needed to implement the Strategy's recommendations.

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"Director Carroll's visit highlights Puerto Rico's importance when it comes to national security matters. We are a critical to the nation's efforts to secure our borders and combat transnational criminal organizations," said González-Colón.

Today's meetings began with Sector San Juan of the U.S. Coast Guard, which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The ONDCP delegation also met with W. Stephen Muldrow, the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, and participated in a roundtable discussion with the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF).

The CCSF is an initiative of the U.S. Attorney's Office created to disrupt and dismantle the major drug trafficking organizations operating in the Caribbean. CCSF is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) that investigates South American-based drug trafficking organizations responsible for the movement of multi-kilogram quantities of narcotics using the Caribbean as a transshipment point for further distribution to the continental United States.

The roundtable with the CCSF, which Congresswoman González-Colón joined by telephone, was attended by Director Carroll and his staff; Rear Admiral Peter Brown; White House Policy Advisor Juan Caro; U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow and his team; United States Marshal for the District of Puerto Rico Wilmer Ocasio; and representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service.