Brian Dugan Named Special Agent in Charge of the Norfolk Field Office

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Director Christopher Wray has named Brian Dugan as the special agent in charge of the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia. Most recently, Mr. Dugan served as section chief of the HUMINT Operations Section in the Directorate of Intelligence at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Dugan joined the FBI as a special agent in 1998 and was first assigned to the San Diego Field Office to mostly work domestic terrorism cases. In 1999, he transferred to the San Francisco Field Office to conduct gang investigations.

In 2006, Mr. Dugan was appointed as an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where he developed new law enforcement and human intelligence courses for the FBI. He left the Academy in 2009 to work on a violent gang squad in the Northern Virginia Resident Agency of the Washington Field Office.

Mr. Dugan was promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to the Chicago Field Office in 2013 to lead a squad investigating child pornography and human trafficking. While in Chicago, he established a new gang squad addressing gun and gang violence on the North Side. He was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of a counterintelligence branch at the Washington Field Office in 2017. His branch investigated—and helped successfully prosecute—several espionage subjects and ran counterproliferation operations.

In 2019, Mr. Dugan was promoted to section chief in the Directorate of Intelligence, which has authority and responsibility for all FBI intelligence functions.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Dugan served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and rose to captain and served in Japan, Korea, and Russia. He earned a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration from Touro University of California.

FBI Seeks Public’s Help in Locating Missing Laredo Man

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

LAREDO, TX—The Federal Bureau of Investigation San Antonio Division, Laredo Resident Agency Office, is seeking information from the public about a man who went to Mexico to visit relatives and has not been seen since.

Francisco Javier Villarreal is a 31-year-old U.S. citizen who is approximately 5’4” in height and approximately 140 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair but is known to shave his head, so may have been bald when he went missing. Villarreal was doing personal training and was planning on opening a business. He also has multiple tattoos on his neck, chest, and right forearm and was last seen wearing an all-black athletic track suit.

Prior to his disappearance on December 11, 2020, he had been staying at a local hotel in the Reforma area in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and had been driving his white 2013 Volkswagon Beetle (License Plate Nuevo Leon SDG-461-A) to a nearby business.

Although the whereabouts of Villarreal are unknown at this time, it is believed he may still be in Mexico and may be the victim of a kidnapping.

The public is urged to call FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 with any information. Tips can also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov. Individuals who provide information may remain anonymous.

FBI Houston SAC Statement on Public Safety

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

HOUSTON, TX—The FBI Houston Division is using all of our investigative resources, to include human source information, as well as advanced technical and scientific tools, to identify the perpetrators of the violence at the U.S. Capitol last week, January 6, 2021. Our agents and analysts have been gathering evidence, sharing intelligence, and working with federal prosecutors toward bringing appropriate charges.

FBI Houston is also establishing a command post to gather intelligence and coordinate with our local and state partners on potential threats.

This is all part of the effort to ensure the safety of our communities. We are focused on identifying, investigating, and disrupting individuals that were involved in the siege of the Capitol and/or continue to incite violence and engage in criminal activity here locally.

At this time, the FBI has not received any specific and substantiated threat to the FBI Houston Area of Responsibility (AOR), which includes Beaumont, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, and Texas City/Galveston, or other government buildings in our area. However, we are working together with our law enforcement partners to continuously share information based on tips submitted by the public.

Between now and the presidential inauguration on January 20, we will be maintaining a heightened posture to monitor for any emerging threats to the region. With that in mind, we are urging people to call 713-693-5000 or go to tips.fbi.gov to submit tips regarding potential violence at any upcoming protest or event. If you know of an immediate emergency, please call 911. We cannot do our job without your help, the American public.

The FBI continues to remain steadfast in our mission to dually and simultaneously protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Federal Arrest for a Chaparral Man for Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

On January 21, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a federal arrest warrant for a Chaparral man who allegedly carjacked a vehicle and lead law enforcement on a high-speed chase through El Paso, Texas, ending in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

In Las Cruces, New Mexico, 32-year old Noe Garcia was arrested for Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property. According to court documents, Garcia carjacked a fuel tanker truck from a local medical center in El Paso and fled the property. Garcia was arrested by New Mexico State Police and was taken into federal custody shortly after the incident.

A federal criminal complaint filed in El Paso charges Garcia with one count of 18 U.S.C. 2413 Transportation of Stolen Goods. Upon conviction, he faces up to ten years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation El Paso Division investigated this case after the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, El Paso Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, New Mexico State Police, and the U.S. Border Patrol worked together to end the high-speed pursuit and reprimand Garcia into custody. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Hannah of the Western District of Texas is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

It is important to note that a criminal complaint is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Statement by FBI SAC Luis Quesada on Public Safety

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

EL PASO, TX—The FBI El Paso Division is using all of our investigative resources, to include human source information, as well as advanced technical and scientific tools, to identify the perpetrators of the violence at the U.S. Capitol last week, January 6, 2021. Our agents and analysts have been gathering evidence, sharing intelligence, and working with federal prosecutors toward bringing appropriate charges.

FBI El Paso is also establishing a command post to gather intelligence and coordinate with our local and state partners on potential threats. We also have special agents, bomb technicians, the FBI Evidence Response Team, tactical teams, intelligence teams, and others to support investigations and counter any potential threat of violence to federal buildings and our shared community.

This is all part of the effort to ensure the safety of our communities. We are focused on identifying, investigating, and disrupting individuals that were involved in the siege of the Capitol and/or continue to incite violence and engage in criminal activity here locally.

The FBI respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. Our focus is not on peaceful protesters, but on those threatening their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and destruction of property.

At this time, the FBI has not received any specific and substantiated threat to the FBI El Paso Area of Responsibility (AOR), which includes El Paso, Midland/Odessa, and Alpine, or other government buildings in our area. However, we are working together with our law enforcement partners to continuously share information based on tips submitted by the public.

Between now and the presidential inauguration on January 20, we will be maintaining a heightened posture to monitor for any emerging threats to the region. With that in mind, we are urging people to call 915-832-5000 or go to tips.fbi.gov to submit tips regarding potential violence at any upcoming protest or event. If you know of an immediate emergency, please call 911.

We cannot be successful without the help of the American people as we work to fulfill our mission: protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution.