As the Executive Director for ACHSIA, Leo serves at the will of the Board of Directors, and handles all day-to-day business, membership, and ACHSIA’s annual convention.
With 25 years of distinguished service in federal law enforcement, Mr. Lamas retired in December 2023 as the Deputy Special Agent in Charge (DSAC) for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Tucson, Arizona. In this capacity, he oversaw operational and administrative staff across four field offices, managing a team of 280 HSI employees (225 sworn) and 56 task force officers. Mr. Lamas was responsible for investigating cross-border criminal activities at seven land ports of entry and three international airports within the Tucson area of responsibility.
Before serving as DSAC, Mr. Lamas held the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in the Tucson office. In this role, he managed two investigative groups, including Certified Undercover Operation Whiteline, an undercover platform certified in financial crimes and narcotics and contraband smuggling. With more than 12 years of experience directing undercover operations, Mr. Lamas developed expertise in enforcement actions, policy implementation, and budget management. Additionally, he led the HSI Tucson Border Enforcement Security Task Force Human Smuggling Group and the Financial Task Force under the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative. Mr. Lamas also represented HSI on the governing board of the Counter Narcotics Alliance, a multi-agency drug task force in Pima County and the Greater Tucson area.
Earlier in Mr. Lamas's career, they served in key roles within field offices and headquarters. As a lead group supervisor, he managed two HSI undercover operations in Tucson and Washington State. At the national level, they served as a program manager in HSI’s National Security Investigations Division, where they oversaw a nationwide weapons trafficking initiative aimed at preventing the export of weapons to Mexico for use by international drug cartels. Mr. Lamas also acted as the HSI liaison to the Office of Foreign Asset Control and contributed to the National Joint Terrorism Task Force. He began their career with the United States Customs Service in Los Angeles, California, where they worked in airport operations at Los Angeles International Airport and later conducted large-scale asset identification and removal investigations targeting transnational criminal organizations in Long Beach, California.
Mr. Lamas holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University.