On Tuesday, Secret Service agents announced they had cracked a plot that could have crippled the telecommunications network in the nation’s largest city, as more than 150 world leaders convene this week in New York.

The U.S. Secret Service said Tuesday that it “dismantled a network of electronic devices located throughout the New York tristate area that were used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats directed towards senior U.S. government officials.”

The devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, it added.

“This protective intelligence investigation led to the discovery of more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “In addition to carrying out anonymous telephonic threats, these devices could be used to conduct a wide range of telecommunications attacks. This includes disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises.”

“While forensic examination of these devices is ongoing, early analysis indicates cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement,” it also said.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the New York Police Department and other state and local law enforcement partners are assisting with the investigation.

“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said.

“The U.S. Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention, and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled,” he added.

The Secret Service also said: “Given the timing, location and potential for significant disruption to New York telecommunications posed by these devices, the agency moved quickly to disrupt this network.”

President Donald Trump is set to address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. 

Trump’s remarks will center on “touting renewal of American strength around the world,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday, according to ABC News..

“The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” Leavitt said.

It will be Trump’s first speech to the annual gathering since his return to office.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared at the U.N. General Assembly that France will now recognize a Palestinian state.

“The time for peace has come,” Macron said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke virtually before the U.N. General Assembly on Monday after the Trump administration revoked his U.S. visa last month to attend the conference in person.

Abbas called on Hamas to surrender their weapons and he condemned the killings on Oct. 7, 2023. He also expressed readiness to work with Trump to implement a peace plan and called for a “permanent ceasefire.”