Peter de la Cuesta

Peter de la Cuesta has over 21 years of service as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. He received a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a focus on Cybercrime Investigations and Cybersecurity from Boston University in 2017 and a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice from Rutgers University in 1997.

Prior to working for the FBI, Mr. de la Cuesta was a Special Agent employed by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation investigating NonTraditional Organized Crime. Mr. de la Cuesta entered the FBI in 2002 and was assigned to the New York Field Office, Counterterrorism Division investigating Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Domestic Terrorism matters. While in New York, Mr. de la Cuesta served as a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, as the WMD Coordinator, and as a member of the Hazardous Materials Response Team.

In 2007, Mr. de la Cuesta transferred to FBI Headquarters as a Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) assigned to the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorates, Countermeasures Unit. In this capacity, Mr. de la Cuesta developed the FBI’s Infrastructure Counterterrorism Program. In addition, Mr. de la Cuesta served as an instructor with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) providing Counter-proliferation training internationally.

In September 2010, Mr. de la Cuesta transferred to Legat Panama City as the Assistant Legal Attaché (ALAT). During his two-year term as ALAT, Mr. de la Cuesta worked a variety of criminal, counterterrorism and counterintelligence matters as well as assisted in promoting the Central American Finger Exchange (CAFÉ) Initiative in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

In September 2012, Mr. de la Cuesta was selected to the position of Unit Chief of the Infrastructure Countermeasures Unit. In 2014, Mr. de la Cuesta returned to the New York Office (NYO) where he has served as the SSA of the New York Security Unit; responsible for the personnel security of over 2500 employees, taskforce officers and contractors as well as the physical security of all the FBI New York Field Office buildings.

In September 2016, Mr. de la Cuesta transferred to the Intelligence Division, Surveillance Branch to oversee the NYO’s largest surveillance program.

In his final assignment, Mr. de la Cuesta reported to Panama City as the Legal Attaché in July 2019 until November 2022 where he led the FBI of criminal, counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Mr. de la Cuesta established Panama’s Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Corruption Task Force which assisted Panama’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.