The US Secret Service has dismantled a SIM card network in New York following threats to senior government officials.

The agency released a statement yesterday stating that they had found a network of 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across the New York tristate area that were “used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats.”

Matt McCool, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office, said in a video statement that the investigation began “following multiple telecommunications-related imminent threats directed towards senior US government officials this spring.”

The New York Times reports that these threats had been made against an official in the Secret Service and two officials working at the White House.

The senior officials were unnamed, and the nature of the threat was not disclosed.

According to the statement, there were “cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement.”

McCool stated that the agency would not disclose their identities, given the “sensitivity and complexity of this investigation.” But an individual familiar with the investigation told Bloomberg that initial analysis had revealed ties to criminals and cartel members, and an anonymous official told the New York Times that the agency had found 80 grams of cocaine, illegal firearms, computers, and cellphones as part of the investigation.

The Secret Service added that the devices could have been used to conduct a wide range of telecommunications attacks, including “disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks, and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises.”

The devices were placed within a 35-mile (34.3km) radius of the United Nations headquarters in New York, which is currently hosting the organization’s 80th General Assembly.

McCool said that the agency would "continue working towards identifying those responsible and their intent, including whether their plan was to disrupt the UN General Assembly and communications of government and emergency personnel during the official visit of world leaders in and around New York City.”