"Nassau County - Long Island, New York"

Commissioner John R. Gibb of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) today joined with the Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, and federal, state and local law enforcement officials to announce the final Operation Gateway mission will be conducted this Labor Day weekend.

Operation Gateway is aimed at identifying, limiting, and disrupting the ability of criminals, terrorists, traffickers, and other law violators who utilize marine waterways to unlawfully enter the United States, carry contraband, and/or operate near and around vulnerable infrastructure and regulated areas.

Operation Gateway is conducted by the Nassau County Police Department in cooperation with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Coast Guard, the New York State Intelligence Center, the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency

Services, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Village of Freeport Police Department, and the City of Long Beach Police Department.

The marine district waterways of Long Island are considered to be a highly vulnerable transportation venue in that a vessel could potentially enter the United States with weapons of mass destruction, concealed human cargo, and/or other contraband and directly proceed to major population centers/infrastructure to detonate, offload, or disembark such cargo.

Gibb said that the operation was ongoing over the Memorial and July 4th holiday weekends and will conclude with this weekend’s efforts. To date, there have been 68 vessel inspections, two foreign nationals taken into custody, 18 foreign-flagged vessel interdictions, eight federal warnings, 66 other violations, and numerous outreach measures to include boater safety procedures and suspicious activity reporting policies.

“Being proactive in the fight against terror is vital to the safety of the citizens of our state.” Gibb said. “Through our partnerships with our federal, state, and local partners, we are utilizing the best and brightest to help combat terror on our closest shores.”

Mr. Robert E. Perez, Director Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, New York said: “CBP is proud to have participated in this joint operation with our partners from other federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies. Our ability to safeguard the United States at her ports of entry and borders in between are greatly enhanced because of positive partnerships forged with these fellow law enforcement agencies.”

James T. Hayes, Jr., special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York said: "As the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, HSI plays a leading role in targeting criminal and terrorist organizations that threaten public safety and national security. We will continue to partner with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to leverage our respective capabilities to combat these threats."

Peter Fanelli, Director of the New York State Environmental Conservation Police, said: “During Operation Gateway, Environmental Conservation Police and our partners utilized various types of advanced detection equipment to conduct radiological surveys of marinas, access sites, and vessels encountered underway in the

and protectionof not only our land, but alsoour waterways. "Operation Gateway" is another example of our continuing efforts toensureour country'ssafety from potential terrorist's threats. The Nassau County Police Department willcontinue to behighly vigilant and supportive of these programs in our fight against terrorism."

To date, there have been nine DHSES funded maritime operations since 2007. They were held in Lake Champlain, the Hudson River and Long Island (Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound). From 2006 through 2009, $1,090,000 in Homeland Security Grant Program funding has been allocated to the overall statewide Strategic Police Intelligence Driven Enforcement Response (SPIDER) program. The funding covers overtime/backfill for planning and operational overtime (salary and fringe) for New York State, county and local law enforcement partners. All information gathered from each operation is sent to the New York State Intelligence Center for further analytical processing and for our federal intelligence partners.

Operation Gateway To Conclude After Successful Summer

(from New York State Division Of Homeland Security And Emergency Services)

State, Local, and Federal Partnership Provides Maritime Security Throughout the Summer