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: kevin.bosch@ic.fbi.gov

SA Gary B. LeGore (Assistant-Middle District) Telephone: 717-773-7846 (cell), 717-213-2317 (off)

Gary.legore@ic.fbi.gov

SA John Bates (Assistant-Scranton) 570-961-7766

SA Eric Negron (Assistant-Philadelphia) 215-418-4554