New executive leadership brings wealth of knowledge as incoming HSI Detroit special agent in charge

DETROIT – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has named Angie Salazar as the new special agent in charge (SAC) of the HSI office based in Detroit.

In her new role, Salazar, a 19-year veteran of federal law enforcement, will supervise a cadre of special agents responsible for investigative work across Michigan and Ohio with administrative and operational oversight of approximately 250 personnel. HSI special agents, analysts, auditors, and support staff, assigned throughout the Midwest, protect the community by utilizing their broad legal authority to conduct federal criminal investigations into various mission areas such as: drug smuggling, illegal exportation of munitions and high-tech items, money laundering, financial crimes, transnational gangs, human smuggling and trafficking, intellectual property rights infringement, and child exploitation.

Salazar returns to Detroit with a wealth of knowledge gleaned from years of federal service. She began her career with HSI in San Ysidro, California, and went on to join HSI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and later served as the deputy attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. She continued her service in law enforcement in 2015 as the assistant SAC for HSI Harlingen before serving as the deputy SAC for HSI Detroit. In September 2021, she was selected to serve as the federal coordinator responsible for Operation Allies Welcome, based at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. In this capacity, Salazar supported the Interagency Unified Coordination Group established by the president to ensure federal unity of effort in achieving the goals of the operation, which included appropriate processing, medical screening, vaccination administration, and resettlement of vulnerable Afghans.

Prior to accepting her current position, Salazar served as the SAC for the Chicago area of operations, covering Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Salazar also held the interim director for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center for Countering Human Trafficking position, which oversees, coordinates, and promotes the DHS mission of combating human trafficking and the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

“I am impressed with the work I have already observed being done by the professional men and women of HSI Detroit,” continued Salazar. “I am excited to see how much more we will be able to accomplish together toward our public safety mission.”

Salazar holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from National University, as well as being a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Learn more about HSI’s mission in your community @HSIDetroit.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS, 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 over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 86 overseas locations in 55 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.