Month: February 2021

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2…………> Super Bowl LV Security Preps: HSI

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TAMPA, Fla. – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will join federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to provide essential public safety efforts in and around the Tampa Bay area for Super Bowl LV. HSI personnel will be on the front lines of the interagency effort to mitigate the threat posed by criminal organizations seeking to exploit and profit from criminal activity through the identification and seizure of counterfeit goods and enhanced efforts to combat human trafficking.

“I am proud of the efforts of HSI Tampa, the National Intellectual Property Rights Center and our public and private sector partners, who are working hard to make sure this is a safe event for everyone, despite the global pandemic,” said HSI Acting Executive Associate Director Patrick J. Lechleitner.

“Large-scale events like the Super Bowl provide opportunities for transnational criminal organizations to commit and profit from illicit activity. As in years past, effective teamwork will be the key to success on and off the field. For HSI, the size and scope of the task will again be met with personnel who are prepared to successfully execute the agency’s game plan and safeguard the city from national security and public safety threats during Super Bowl LV.”
Through Operation Team Player, the IPR Center, HSI, and its partners crack down on the illegal importation of counterfeit sports apparel and merchandise. Throughout the year, warehouses, stores, flea markets, online marketplaces and street vendors selling counterfeit and game-related sportswear and tickets are identified throughout the country. The IPR Center leads coordinated efforts to target contraband that negatively impacts the economy, restricts the competitiveness of U.S. products in the global market, and poses health and safety hazards to the public.

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https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ensuring-public-safety-tops-hsis-mission-super-bowl-lv

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3…………>  HSI Top Friday’s Five Missions

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1). SUPER BOWL LV Ensuring Public Safety Tops HSI’s Mission at Super Bowl LV

While the past year has looked nothing like any year in recent history, one thing that won’t be different is the presence of the men and women of HSI at the Super Bowl.

2). CHILD EXPLOITATION HSI, Australian Federal Police identify 245 victims of child exploitation by predator posing as popular YouTube star
An investigation by HSI and the Australian Federal Police resulted in the arrest of a 25-year-old Australian citizen who is now facing a total of 247 charges related to 245 alleged child victims in the United States.

3). ICE announces extension to I-9 compliance flexibility

COVID-19 PRECAUTIONSICE announces extension to I-9 compliance flexibility
ICE announced Jan. 27, 2021, an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance that was granted earlier this year. Due to the continued precautions related to COVID-19, DHS will extend this policy until March 31, 2021. 

4). Arizona sex trafficking:

SEX TRAFFICKING: Arizona sex trafficker sentenced to 10 years in prison, as a local area man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Jan. 7, 2021, for sex trafficking three women, including one minor, in a probe spearheaded by HSI and the Mesa Police Department. 

5). CAREERS | #ICYMI: ICE is hiring  hiring for multiple positions across the United States. Interested? To learn more and apply, visit USAJOBS.

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https://www.ice.gov/features/friday-five

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4………..> Russia’s Prisons: Overcrowded With Navalny Protesters?

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“Number 15! Who is number 15?” yells a woman standing in line, it is 10 below zero (14 degrees Fahrenheit), as her breath steaming in the cold air, but after standing in line for hours on end it feels like at least 20 below, with hundreds of people have been waiting here at the entrance to the Sakharovo correctional facility since 6:00 a.m. , hoping to help friends and family stuck behind the razor wire-topped walls since being arrested over the past several days in the capital Moscow.

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https://www.dw.com/en/russia-arbitrary-arrests-and-overcrowded-prisons-following-navalny-protests/a-56472129

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5…………> Combined Mutations Wave Fear: UK

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Nasty things seldom come alone, hence in the UK, COVID experts have detected the first cases of a British variant of the virus that is carrying an additional gene mutation seen also in a South African variant, is making an existing mutation there more infectious and may even reduce the effect of vaccines, the cases are causing concern because it is possible that the two negative characteristics could combine.

In Britain, the variant B.1.1.7 has already made the virus more infectious, while the South African variant 501Y.V2, meanwhile, carries a mutation called E484K, and that very same mutation — E484K — has been found in Brazilian variants as well, namely, variants B.1.1.33 and B.1.1.28. These mutations are thought to be especially infectious among people under the age of 20 years, hindering the immune system’s neutralizing antibodies — either those you would get through vaccination or after surviving a COVID-19 infection — from binding to the virus and doing their work.

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https://www.dw.com/en/combined-covid-mutations-discovered-in-the-uk/a-56445194

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6…………> A Message Of Peace