Up Close with IA Milton Ramirez

01/14/05

When we approached Milton Ramirez to ask him what it’s like being an intelligence analyst in the FBI, he said, “Let me tell you a story.”

“Right after I started in the FBI’s office in Puerto Rico, I became part of a team working to dismantle a very large and very violent gang in San Juan that had taken over a complete housing project and the lives of all the residents in it. This gang was into everything bad—murder, rape, illegal firearms, money laundering, and international cocaine and heroin trafficking. It used 2-way radios to communicate and conduct surveillance at lookout posts—and it forced the residents to store drugs inside their homes to avoid the Police of Puerto Rico. The residents were miserable, but they wouldn’t cooperate because charges against the gang never stuck, and retaliation was swift. Law enforcement partnerships finally broke the back of the gang. After 2 years of meticulous investigation, the Police of Puerto Rico, U.S. Customs, DEA, HUD, Social Security Administration, and FBI raided the housing project and arrested the leader of the gang and 25 of its members. All were found guilty. All are in jail. And I was part of making that happen. You can imagine how good that makes me feel.”

Q: Tell us more—what did you do exactly to help make the case?
Milton: Very intensive stuff. Exhaustive research and analysis helped us put together an organizational profile of the gang, their activities, their MOs, communications, and photographs. We analyzed telephone and police records to prepare a wiretap affidavit. We analyzed financial records to identify gang assets. And, in the end, to our complete satisfaction, we prepared arrest packages...and graphic presentations that were used in trial.

Q: That’s just one case—what do you do on a daily basis, especially now that you’re in the FBI’s Houston office?
Milton: Usually more than can be done in one day! When I came here as a field Intelligence Analyst, I researched case files, databases, and open source information. I read and wrote intelligence assessments and bulletins. I’m involved in briefings, training, and workshops with colleagues in other agencies. In 2003, for example, I traveled to Indonesia to teach a basic intelligence course to police officers in the newly created Anti-Terrorism Directorate. Now, since my promotion, I do all that and supervise 20 Intelligence Analysts in our Investigative Support Center group too.

Q: And can you say what you like best about the job?
Milton: No question about it: At the end of the day you go home with a wonderful sense of accomplishment of doing something to protect the nation and the lives of the people in it. You can’t beat that.

Link: Interested in applying? Go straight to https://www.fbijobs.gov/. Or, read more about the FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence.