(TJV NEWS) The U.S. Secret Service dismantled a sprawling illicit communications system in the New York region that investigators say was capable of crippling cellphone networks just as world leaders arrived for the United Nations General Assembly, the agency revealed this week. The operation marked an unprecedented discovery in scale and sophistication, the New York Times reported.

According to officials, the system included more than 100,000 SIM cards and roughly 300 servers designed to send millions of anonymous text messages per minute. The network, they warned, could disrupt emergency response systems or enable covert communications beyond the reach of law enforcement. “We’ve never encountered anything this extensive,” one official said, the Times reported.

Authorities emphasized that while no direct threat to the General Assembly was confirmed, the scale of the infrastructure suggested it could be tied to a state-run surveillance or espionage program. Experts noted the technology could also be used for large-scale eavesdropping or even disabling cellphone towers, the New York Times reported.

Secret Service officials said investigators first uncovered the equipment in August across multiple sites within 35 miles of the U.N. headquarters. The find came after months of probing anonymous “telephonic threats” made earlier this year to senior U.S. officials, including one in the Secret Service and two at the White House. While details of those threats were not made public, some were described as fraudulent calls, the Times reported.

Matt McCool, who heads the agency’s New York field office, said in a recorded statement that authorities are now focused on identifying who built the network and why. “We will continue working toward identifying those responsible and their intent, including whether their plan was to disrupt the U.N. General Assembly and communications of government and emergency personnel,” he said, the New York Times reported.

Forensic analysis of SIM cards linked parts of the network to at least one foreign nation and to known criminal groups, including drug cartels. Investigators also seized firearms, computers, cellphones, and even 80 grams of cocaine at some of the locations tied to the operation, according to officials cited by the Times.

Images released by the Secret Service showed racks of electronic equipment and rows of servers filled with SIM cards. Specialists reviewing the material believe more high-ranking U.S. officials may have been targeted.

Anthony J. Ferrante, a former top cybersecurity official at the White House and FBI, told the New York Times the discovery “looked like espionage” given the scale, cost, and proximity to the U.N. summit. James A. Lewis, a Washington-based cybersecurity researcher, added that only a handful of governments—including Russia, China, or Israel—have the resources to mount such an operation.

The investigation remains active and involves multiple agencies, including the NYPD, Justice Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Officials believe similar devices could be uncovered in other major U.S. cities as the probe expands, the Times reported.