The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday the formation of a new global trade enforcement section within its National Fraud Division. The unit will focus on investigating and prosecuting criminal offenses involving imports, trade and customs fraud.
Officials framed the new section as part of a broader recalibration of federal enforcement priorities - moving away from a reliance on administrative fines for import violations and toward criminal prosecutions. According to the announcement, since the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security launched the Trade Fraud Task Force in August 2025, the agencies have exceeded $1 billion in civil and criminal recoveries, penalties, forfeitures and publicly charged losses.
The formal mission of the DOJ’s trade fraud unit is to investigate and prosecute criminal schemes that bring goods into the United States illegally. That work includes cases where imports violate U.S. product safety requirements or anti-forced labor laws, as well as schemes that misreport import values or other information to evade tariffs.
"For too long, fraud actors have viewed customs violations as a mere surcharge or cost of doing business," Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said in a statement. "By utilizing the Department’s full weight, we are making it clear that trade fraud is a serious economic crime."
The announcement was delivered at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection warehouse near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, described by officials as a major import hub. The location was featured amid boxes of confiscated illegal vaping devices and drones.
Separately, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced criminal charges in two Chicago-based gold jewelry import cases. In those matters, defendants are accused of falsely declaring the country of origin for imported jewelry to evade tariffs. The jewelry had a combined import value of $933 million and, the office said, avoided customs duties of $51.6 million.
The new enforcement section centralizes the DOJ’s criminal trade fraud efforts within the National Fraud Division and signals an intensified federal focus on the criminal dimensions of import compliance. The department described this effort as leveraging its full prosecutorial authority to address schemes that undermine customs laws and tariff enforcement.
Summary
The DOJ has launched a global trade enforcement section to pursue criminal import, trade and customs fraud, marking a shift toward criminal prosecutions after more than $1 billion in recoveries and penalties tied to the Trade Fraud Task Force. The announcement was made at a CBP inspection warehouse near Chicago O'Hare and coincided with criminal charges in two high-value jewelry import cases.