HSI Baltimore personnel recognized for their work with Baltimore County Police Department gang enforcement team

BALTIMORE – The Baltimore County Police Department recently recognized two special agents and one task force officer from Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore with their highest commendation for their work with the Criminal Intelligence, Homeland Security Section Gang Enforcement Team.

HSI Baltimore Special Agents Milton Lynn and Michael Gonzalez and Task Force Officer Thomas Seabolt were presented with the Baltimore County Police Department’s Police Chief’s Award on Nov. 29 at the Baltimore County Police Department Headquarters in Towsend, Maryland.

The CIHSS Gang Enforcement Team was recognized by Baltimore County’s Chief of Police Robert McCullough for their investigation into, and dismantling of, a drug trafficking organization that was operating in Maryland, North Carolina and New York. The organization had connections to an infamous criminal street and prison gang.

It became apparent early in the investigation that this would become a high-priority case for the CIHSS Gang Enforcement Task Force. Special Agents Lynn and Gonzales proved invaluable assets to the CIHSS team in their investigation. The team identified several co-conspirators of the DTO as “top tier” members. In addition, the DTO was identified as having as many as five different “dope shops” in the Northwest Baltimore area, each responsible for distributing hundreds of fentanyl and heroin capsules a day. The “dope shops” were headed by the top-tier members, overseen by managers and operated by the street-level dealers. The team used an exhaustive list of investigative techniques to surveil the DTO and develop a clear plan to dismantle the organization.

The team combined technology and electronic surveillance (i.e. covert cameras, covert vehicle tracking devices and cellular phone tracking technology) with traditional investigative work to develop probable cause using financial record analysis, telephone record analysis, undercover physical surveillance, corroborated informant information, corroborated confidential source information, interdiction stops in Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Cecil County, arrests of street-level dealers, utilization of undercover operatives to conduct hand-to-hand drug transactions with targets at the dope shops, and trash collections for evidence.

The investigation concluded in May 2023. The investigative team obtained 15 search and seizure warrants, seven in Baltimore County, seven in Baltimore City and one in Harrisburg, North Carolina. The team also obtained eight criminal indictment warrants for the DTO members.

As a result of this operation, the CIHSS Gang Enforcement Team seized approximately five kilograms of fentanyl; approximately $150,000.00 in drug proceeds; 16 illegally possessed firearms, some of which were stolen or had obliterated serial numbers; manufacturing and distribution drug paraphernalia; bulk cutting agents for controlled dangerous substances; and body armor. Due to the success of the investigation, the team is pitching the entire case to the United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Long-term, gang-related investigations of this size and duration are uncommon for CIHSS. The team invested voluminous hours into the investigation, reporting early, staying late and working on their days off. Considering the number of drugs seized, money confiscated, firearms commandeered and arrests made, the noteworthy persistence of the CIHSS team returned exponential results.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.