Secret Service Dismantles Covert Cellular Network Near UN Headquarters in New York

by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – The U.S. Secret Service announced Tuesday it had dismantled a massive covert cellular network across the New York metropolitan area, a system officials say could have crippled communications just as nearly 150 world leaders arrived in Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly.

Investigators uncovered more than 300 communications servers and over 100,000 SIM cards spread within a 35-mile radius of UN headquarters. Officials say the network, described as one of the most serious communications threats ever detected on U.S. soil, was capable of disabling cellular service, overwhelming 911 emergency lines, and disrupting counterterrorism responses.

“This system’s capabilities cannot be underestimated,” said Matt McCall, the Secret Service’s special agent in charge of the New York office. “It can take down cell towers so people can no longer communicate. You won’t be able to send text messages, you won’t be able to use your phone. And if you combine that with some other incident tied to the UN gathering—it could be catastrophic for the city.”

A hidden threat in plain sight

The discovery came during a broader Secret Service probe into telecommunications threats targeting senior government officials. Spread across multiple sites, the hidden servers acted like banks of fake cellphones, capable of generating millions of calls and texts simultaneously, crashing local networks, and enabling encrypted, untraceable communications for criminal groups and potential state actors.

Officials say there is no evidence of a direct plot to disrupt the UN General Assembly, nor are there any known credible threats to New York. Still, investigators believe nation-state actors may have used the system to send encrypted communications to organized crime groups, cartels, and terrorist organizations.

“We need to forensically investigate 100,000 cellphones—all the calls, all the texts, everything tied to communications, to see where those numbers lead,” McCall said, cautioning that the probe will take time.

Scale and sophistication

When agents entered the sites, they found rows of servers and shelves stacked with SIM cards. More than 100,000 were already active, with large stockpiles still waiting to be deployed—a sign the operators were preparing to double or even triple the network’s capacity. Investigators estimate the system could send up to 30 million text messages per minute.

Officials described the setup as a highly professional and well-funded operation costing millions of dollars in equipment alone.

“The Secret Service’s role is prevention, and this investigation makes clear to anyone thinking of targeting the people we protect—we will find you, investigate you, and stop you immediately,” said Secret Service Director Shawn Coren.

Potential for chaos

Authorities warned the network could have triggered outages similar to those seen after the September 11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing, when cellular systems collapsed under strain. Unlike those spontaneous collapses, however, attackers in this case could have forced a blackout at a time of their choosing.

“Could there be more networks like this?” McCall asked. “It would be foolish to think none are being built in other U.S. cities.”

Latest Worthy News