Page 23 - DRI ANNUAL REPORT EBOOK

Catherine A. Hermsen
Assistant Commissioner Office of Criminal Investigations
Message
On behalf of the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs, Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI), we offer our warmest regards to our colleagues from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on your 63rd Foundation Day and our gratitude for your continued commitment to combat health and safety based crime. Most notably in 2020, this was evidenced in January by “Operation Broadsword,” an operational development involving personnel from DRI, USFDA, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the international mail facility located at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The catalyst for Operation Broadsword was a senior-level USFDA delegation, led by Assistant Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs Judith McMeekin, PharmD, and myself, who traveled to New Delhi, India, in September 2019, to meet with yourself and Chairman M. Ajit Kumar, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
Over three days, the Operation Broadsword Team examined more than eight hundred parcels, with more than sixty percent ultimately found to be in violation of U.S. federal law. This first-of-its-kind bilateral activity stopped more than five hundred parcels containing approximately fifty different USFDA-regulated products, including illicit opioid products, from reaching unsuspecting consumers in the U.S. It also brought attention to the dangers posed by transshipment and served as a platform for the USFDA and DRI to highlight the importance of international partnerships in the effort to stop illegal imports via the attached joint press release.
From reciprocal training, the exchange of criminal intelligence, Headquarters-level engagement, to shoulder-to shoulder enforcement activities, we extend our warmest wishes to our colleagues from DRI as we build upon these shared successes moving forward.
Catherine A. Hermsen