Food & Agriculture
Terrorism:
An FBI PerspectiveSA Gary B. LeGore
A/WMD Coordinator
Philadelphia Division
WMD INCIDENT-RESPONSE TIMELINE-
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TimeIncident
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Victims
Local First Responders
State
Responders
Federal
Responders
TERRORISM IS…
the unlawful use of force or violence against
persons or property to intimidate or coerce a
government or civilian population or any
segment thereof, in furtherance of political
or social objectives.
unlawful use of force or violence
to intimidate or coerce
for political or social objectives
AGRO-TERRORISM IS…
The use, or threatened use, of biological, chemical, toxin, nuclear, radiological, or explosive agent against one or more components of the food or agriculture sectors.
Vast majority of cases involve criminal intent Murder
Extortion
Revenge
Disruption
Anti-animal / anti-crop
Terrorism involves terror, murder, political statements, incapacitation, economic damage
Advantages of Targeting
Agriculture
No “taboo” on attacking crops or animals
Less chance of state level retaliation
No one would suspect it would occur
Use of many WMD agents can go undetected for days or even weeks
Infectious Disease - natural vs. intentional
Plausible Deniability
Real vs. Hoax
Copycat incidents
Lack of consumer confidence
Financial losses even if threat is false
U.S. Food Safety System
System was originally designed to detect and
contain accidental contamination events
Changes are being made to address possible
deliberate contamination events
Multiple points of access in the farm to fork
continuum must be monitored
THE WMD THREAT
B-iological
N-uclear
I-ncendiary
C-hemical
E-xplosive
BIOLOGICALDocument Found at Tarnak Farms
UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO
UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO
700 Agricultural Disease and Veterinary Medical documents and
journal articles - Afghanistan.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
56 Field Offices
400 Resident Agencies59 LEGATs
Joint Terrorism Task Forces
Using multiagency resources, the
JTTF responds, detects,
prevents,
and investigates terrorist acts
directed against the United
States
Federal, state, and local law
enforcement participate in the
task forces located nationwide
JTTFs have full-time state and
local officers assigned to the
task forces
FBI INTITIATIVES OR JOINT PROJECTS(SELECTED)
Strategic Partnership Program Agro-terrorism (SPPA) Initiative
(FBI, DHS, USDA, FDA)- 05/2005
Determine critical points in our agricultural infrastructure
Agro-terrorism Working Groups (AWGs)- 07/2005
Bring together the agencies/groups that will detect, deter assess and
respond to terrorist threats/attacks targeting the food and agricultural
sectors
AgriGard/ChemGard- 03/2006
Food and Agriculture Investigative Handbook- 11/2006
Quick-flip reference to facilitate communication and interaction
between law enforcement and food and agriculture officials
Threat Assessment Process
ThreatAssessment
Product
Conference Call to
WMDOU
Consult with FBI
Assets
Consult with outside
assets (if needed)
Provide
Assessment to
Field Office
WMD Threat Assessments-Three Viewpoints-
Behavioral
Resolve
Technical
Feasibility
Operational
Practicality
How does the FBI respond to
WMD incidents?
Would you believe…?
Actual Response to the Scene
WMD Coordinators for
Philadelphia Division
SA Kevin Bosch (Primary) Telephone: 215-418-4163
E-mail: [email protected]
SA Gary B. LeGore (Assistant-Middle District) Telephone: 717-773-7846 (cell), 717-213-2317 (off)
SA John Bates (Assistant-Scranton) 570-961-7766
SA Eric Negron (Assistant-Philadelphia) 215-418-4554