'Zeroed out': Trump eliminates DOJ unit protecting his base from organized crime

The Trump administration is “decommissioning” a Department of Justice unit known for dismantling transnational organized crime networks, including drug cartels, human trafficking rings and lottery and phone scams that target President Donald Trump’s senior supporters.

Bloomberg reports leaders of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Unit, or OCDETF, were told they had until Sept. 30 to shut down operations, according to anonymous internal sources.

“An email sent last Monday by a DOJ budget analyst to a counterpart at OCDETF said that the unit’s fiscal year 2026 budget would be ‘zeroed out’ and the independent office dissolved," according to records obtained by Bloomberg News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and people familiar with the matter.

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The cause for the shutdown wasn’t specified in documents, and Bloomberg says it’s unclear who was responsible for making the decision, which runs counter to the administration’s stated commitment to tackle human and drug trafficking. A DOJ spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump, who is a convicted felon, instituted immediate, widespread cuts to the DOJ upon taking office. The OCDETF cuts appear to lack a financial justification: In 2025, with only a $550 million budget, the unit nabbed more than $2 billion in seized and forfeited proceeds from international criminal networks, according to the Government Accountability Office. The defunding also razes the department’s sprawling fusion center in Virginia.

In addition to shutting down drug trafficking organizations, the task force is the preeminent agency pursuing international scammers who target seniors with more than $3.4 billion in phone, internet and mail scams. State attorneys general offices field many senior victim complaints, but attorneys general must always defer scam reports to the federal government because states have no jurisdiction in places like Mumbai, India and Kingston, Jamaica, where the brunt of scams originate. The OCDETF, however, can reach into Jamaica and arrest individuals tied to lottery schemes that cost victims more than $9.5 million last year.

Such scams overwhelmingly target seniors who generally support Trump.

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The OCDETF is now preparing to cancel building leases, shut down its information systems and terminate contracts.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.