U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a partnership with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today to prevent companies associated with smuggling migrants into the United States from securing insurance for their commercial enterprises.

The partnership is tied to Operation Sentinel, a new counter-network targeting operation launched in April 2021.

Operation Sentinel partners are currently targeting hundreds of criminal organization members, their affiliates and their associated businesses, and investigating whether to exclude from Federal Programs, through actions such as suspension and/or debarment, any such persons who are not presently responsible. The government-wide suspension and debarment system exists to protect the public interest, the public’s money, and the integrity of Federal programs by ensuring that Federal agencies only conduct business with presently responsible persons.

“Ensuring smuggling organizations are not able to do business with the U.S. government will severely limit their ability to operate,” said CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy Miller. “Our partnership with NICB will broaden the reach of each government action by informing insurance companies of the debarred organizations.” 

The NICB is the insurance industry’s premier association dedicated to predicting, preventing, and prosecuting insurance crime. Their extensive network of more than 1,200 member companies includes more than 80 percent of the nation’s property-casualty insurance companies. Following CBP’s determination to suspend or debar a particular company or individual, NICB will inform their members of the suspended or debarred entity.

“NICB has a long history of partnering with CBP, and we welcome the opportunity to expand on that relationship to aid with ongoing investigations targeting Transnational Organized Crime,” said David Glawe, NICB President and CEO and former DHS Under Secretary for Intelligence. “We look forward to working with Secretary Mayorkas and Commissioner Miller to extend the reach of their efforts in targeting organizations affiliated with the smuggling of migrants.”

Operation Sentinel is an anti-smuggling effort that targets all personnel and identifiable resources that criminal smuggling operations require to operate. Utilizing the full breadth of domestic and foreign authorities, data, analytic capability and capacity, Operation Sentinel maps the organizations’ networks; targets their members, associates, and assets; and employs a series of targeted actions and sanctions against them.