Law Enforcement Officials Announce Violent Crime Reduction Initiative: OPERATION CEASEFIRE

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, together with state, local, and federal law enforcement officials, announce the implementation of a multi-agency violent crime reduction initiative – Operation Ceasefire. Each of following law enforcement agencies will allocate personnel and resources to Operation Ceasefire to jointly target, apprehend and prosecute the most prolific, violent armed criminals operating throughout Puerto Rico. 

• Secretary Domingo Emanuelli, Puerto Rico Department of Justice;
• Secretary Alexis Torres, Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety;
• Commissioner, Colonel Antonio López Figueroa, Puerto Rico Police Bureau;
• Commisioner Joey Prado, Bayamón Municipal Police;
• Commissioner Rubén Moyeno, Carolina Municipal Police;
• Commissioner Jorge Hernández Peña, Guaynabo Municipal Police;
• Acting Commissioner Juan Jackson, San Juan Municipal Police;
• Special Agent in Charge Christopher Robinson, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives;
• Special Agent in Charge Denise Foster, Drug Enforcement Administration;
• Special Agent in Charge Joseph González, Federal Bureau of Investigation;
• Special Agent in Charge Rebecca González Ramos, Homeland Security Investigations; and
• United States Marshal Wilmer Ocasio Ibarra, United States Marshals Service.

Operation Ceasefire will build on existing anti-violent crime strategies, such as the Gang Strike Forces and the Triggerpuller program. The initiative will be coordinated through the Chief and Deputy Chief of the United States Attorney’s Office’s Gang Section, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alberto Lopez-Rocafort and Teresa S. Zapata Valladares.

Operation Ceasefire will also draw upon the resources and collaboration of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program, as well as the Puerto Rico / U.S. Virgin Islands High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (PRVI HIDTA) Task Force.

The OCDETF mission is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States, using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency task force approach. OCDETF synchronizes and incentivizes prosecutors and agents to lead smart, creative investigations targeting the command-and-control networks of organized criminal groups and the illicit financiers that support them. Additional information about the OCDETF Program may be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

PSN brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Justice Department’s violent crime reduction efforts. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders works together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally‑based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The PRVI HIDTA Task Force was established by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in 1994. The mission of the PRVI HIDTA is to reduce violence and crime by targeting, disrupting, and dismantling drug trafficking and money laundering organizations supported by intelligence driven investigations.

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