A massive hidden telecom system capable of crippling New York City’s cellphone service was dismantled by the U.S. Secret Service just as world leaders arrived for the United Nations General Assembly.

According to the Daily Mail, federal authorities found more than 300 SIM servers containing over 100,000 SIM cards within 35 miles of the UN headquarters. Investigators said the setup was capable of taking down cell towers, jamming emergency calls, and overwhelming local networks.

The system operated as a network of spoof mobile devices, able to send millions of calls and texts simultaneously. Officials warned that such an attack could have caused blackouts across the city’s communication grid at a time when counterterrorism and emergency response were at peak readiness for the Assembly.

Hidden network discovered near UN district

Authorities said the servers were spread across multiple secret sites throughout the New York region. In these locations, agents uncovered shelves stacked with activated SIM cards and more ready to be deployed, suggesting the operators planned to expand capacity.

Investigators believe the hardware alone represented a multimillion-dollar investment. The infrastructure was powerful enough to send 30 million text messages per minute, according to officials.

Special Agent Matt McCool, who leads the Secret Service’s New York field office, described the system as unlike anything the agency had previously discovered. He said disabling it eliminated a risk that could have been catastrophic if paired with another major incident.

Espionage links under investigation

Though no direct plan to disrupt the UN General Assembly has been identified, investigators are probing potential links to international espionage. McCool said the network may have been used by foreign actors to transmit encrypted messages to gangs, cartels and terror groups.

Forensic experts are now analyzing the equivalent of 100,000 cellphones’ worth of data. The review will cover call histories, text logs and associated metadata.

Officials have not confirmed which governments or criminal organizations may be responsible. The investigation remains in its early stages, and authorities are declining to identify any suspects publicly.

Officials stress potential impact

McCool emphasized how disruptive the system could have been. He compared its potential to the widespread failures in cellphone service following the September 11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing, when networks collapsed under strain.

He noted that, in this case, attackers would not have to wait for a disaster to generate a collapse but could trigger it deliberately. The ability to black out communications in America’s largest city was described as a serious national security threat.

With roughly 150 world leaders in Manhattan this week, officials stressed that secure communication is critical. The prospect of New York’s phone systems being shut down even temporarily was considered unacceptable.

Future concerns and security warning

The Secret Service said the discovery demonstrates how communications infrastructure has become a new target of espionage. Agency Director Sean Curran stressed that the U.S. will move quickly to dismantle similar threats.

McCool warned that New York may not be the only city facing this kind of risk. “It’d be unwise to think that there’s not other networks out there being made in other cities in the United States,” he said.

Authorities said they remain on high alert as the forensic investigation continues. The takedown shows that even invisible infrastructure can pose potentially devastating risks during high-security global events.