FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday the start of “Operation Summer Heat 2.0,” a nationwide violent crime and narcotics crackdown that officials say will expand on last summer’s initiative credited with thousands of arrests, major drug seizures, and the recovery of hundreds of endangered children.The operation, which will involve all 56 FBI field offices across the country, is beginning three weeks earlier than the effort during President Donald Trump‘s first year in office, and it was unveiled alongside a major violent crime takedown in West Virginia led by the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office.“Summer Heat last year led by then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino was a historic success getting the worst of the worst criminals off the street, seizing record amounts of narcotics and identifying or locating almost 600 children,” Patel told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive statement.
“Through our nationwide crackdown with all 56 field offices participating and working with partners we are saving lives and making America safer than ever — continuing the most prolific run of crime reduction in American history led by President Trump,” he added.
Patel traveled to Martinsburg, West Virginia, on Tuesday to announce the initiative during a press conference highlighting the results of Operation Turf War, a multiagency investigation targeting drug trafficking organizations operating in West Virginia, Maryland, and surrounding jurisdictions.
