Three Reasons HIDTA Offices Need Customized OSINT Training
Top 3 Reasons HIDTA Offices Need Customized OSINT Training
Highly organized drug and human trafficking rings in urban areas continues to negatively impact residents and businesses. Many law enforcement agencies in these areas rely on and partner with High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) offices for support in large scale investigations. Analysts and investigators assigned to HIDTAs often have access to data in disparate systems, as well as data from open-source. Making sense of it all can be overwhelming and time consuming.
From synthetic opioids flooding local markets, to cartel operations leveraging encrypted platforms, drug traffickers are relying more heavily on digital platforms and social media for recruitment and narcotics distribution. While street level, hand-to-hand distribution is still plaguing our cities, reliance on digital communication is forcing HIDTA analysts and investigators to stay up to date on open-source techniques and tradecraft to support ongoing investigations.
To assist HIDTA personnel, OSINT Academy, the training division of Hetherington Group, has seen first-hand the difference tailored OSINT training can have on drug trafficking investigations. Because of this, we’ve put together the top three reasons every HIDTA office should invest in customized OSINT training:
1. Drug Trafficking Has Gone Digital. Your Analysts Must Too…Safely
Fentanyl, methamphetamine, and counterfeit pills aren’t just moving through hand-to-hand street level distribution. While street level narcotics still impact communities, criminal organizations are using social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps, and darknet markets to move product. OSINT is no longer an afterthought; it’s a frontline investigative necessity.
Because of this, OSINT training equips HIDTA teams with the ability to identify drug trafficking activity on Instagram, Telegram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Once accounts are identified, it allows analysts to track digital breadcrumbs left by traffickers using alias accounts and burner phones. This type of training also teaches investigators how to conduct deep and dark web research to uncover online drug markets and supplier networks while staying anonymous and safe online.
A narcotics investigation that used to begin with a confidential informant can now begin with a geotagged Instagram post or a cryptocurrency wallet address. But without training, these leads may never be safely uncovered for further investigation.
2. OSINT Exposes Criminal Networks That Connect Potential Suspects Across Jurisdictions
The link between drug trafficking and violence is well established. From gang-related shootings to retaliatory homicides tied to turf wars, HIDTA regions see violence tied to trafficking networks. Customized OSINT training enables crime analysts and investigators to map these threats more comprehensively.
With the right training, HIDTA offices can learn how to visualize social networks and identify enablers, recruiters, and affiliates across platforms. Open-source training also shows analysts how to cross-reference public records, open-source databases, and social media to build complete profiles of suspects who may be involved in this activity. By using open-source and public records together, investigators and analysts can also detect early indicators of escalating violence through social media posts, tagged photos and social network analysis.
Whether it’s uncovering a retaliatory threat posted in a private Facebook group or identifying connections between overdoses and a local dealer’s network, OSINT helps HIDTA teams to get out in front of these networks before violence escalates.
3. One-Size-Fits-All Training Doesn’t Fit HIDTA Operations
Many agencies take generic training that doesn’t reflect the operational reality of how HIDTA offices are structured and the relationships they have with local, state and federal law enforcement. The caseload and jurisdictional collaboration required of HIDTA teams demand training that is mission specific.
Our customized OSINT programs are built for intelligence analysts and investigators tasked with uncovering evidence and conducting tactical assessments of people potentially involved in criminal organizations. Through discussions and meetings prior to training, we focus on building training materials geared toward narcotics and gang investigators who must legally obtain and analyze digital data to build cases for prosecution. Finally, we develop materials for supervisors and regional commanders responsible for coordinating multi-agency task forces in their HIDTA region.
The Bottom Line: Training HIDTA Offices on OSINT Must Be Customized
HIDTA offices are often under pressure to develop intelligence that leads to arrests and the dismantling of criminal networks. Generic intelligence training doesn’t meet that demand, but customized OSINT training does. Whether you’re tracking fentanyl shipments, monitoring communications, or trying to map a network before the next overdose spike, open-source data can provide the additional intelligence needed for takedown operations.
OSINT Academy can meet that demand with our customized training programs. Before you focus solely on one tool or method to provide you with open-source access, understand and learn best practices for searching, analyzing and reporting on these findings. Customized training for HIDTA offices will give you the tools your analysts and investigators need to stay safe online, uncover critical evidence and develop meaningful intelligence to power investigations.
Learn more about training topics we can customize to meet your offices needs by clicking here to visit OSINT Academy's HIDTA training page.
