While it reportedly achieved some successes in terms of recovery of smuggled currency and assets,[1] the operation was ultimately criticized for targeting a number of respected Muslim community leaders and rarely making a connection to terrorist activities.
[2][3][1] A lack of coordination between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and disputes over each agency's jurisdiction, led to the program's disbandment in June 2003.
[9] U.S. customs agents with federal search warrants reportedly confiscated around 500 boxes of paper and 80 computers, but no criminal charges ensued, no financial assets were frozen, no organizations were shut down, and no links to terrorism were found.
[2][9][10] A number of indictments were raised against alleged Iraqi and Yemeni hawala money-laundering rings in Seattle and New York City, but it was unclear whether these were linked to terrorist financing or if they were simply networks of Middle Eastern immigrants sending money home to their families.
[2][8] A 2003 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights described the raids as having frightened and angered the Muslim community, “as agents broke down doors, handcuffed people, and seized personal property ranging from computers to children's toys.”[11] It gave rise to concerns of unfair persecution.
Two weeks later, on April 4, 2002, a delegation of notable GOP-affiliated Muslim figures, including Palestinian-American financier and Republican organizer Talat M. Othman and Islamic Institute head Khaled Saffuri, was received by Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill as representatives of the Muslim-American community to voice complaints about the raid.
[1] The same report revealed that investigations had rarely developed into terrorist financing cases, according to a memo from 25 June 2003, authored by the Deputy Assistant Director for Financial Programs at ICE.