A headline with those exact words is racing across YouTube, TikTok and X, presented as if federal agents have just taken down an $85 million trafficking ring run through a “Somali trucking network” in the United States. Thumbnails show convoys of seized semis, piles of cash and rows of handcuffed drivers – a made‑for‑TV bust that seems too cinematic to be fake.

So far, the public record doesn’t back it up. A review of FBI and Department of Justice press releases, PACER court filings, and major local news outlets in key trucking hubs shows no documented operation matching an $85M Somali‑run network and “83 arrested in a massive raid.” Real federal cases of that size generate indictments with names, dates, case numbers and detailed descriptions of drugs, fraud or money laundering. None of those standard markers appear for this supposed crackdown.

What is real: U.S. trucking and logistics are sometimes exploited by criminal groups of many backgrounds to move contraband or wash money, and there have been major, multi‑state probes involving dozens of defendants. But disinformation trackers note how this headline narrows that complex reality to one scapegoat: “Somali trucking,” neatly tying together immigrant fears, Islamophobia and anger over crime.

Community advocates warn that repeating such unverified claims doesn’t just misinform – it feeds suspicion toward thousands of law‑abiding Somali‑American drivers and small carriers who keep freight moving. Until federal authorities publish verifiable details – who was charged, where, and for what – “FBI SMASHES $85M Somali Trucking Network” should be treated as a red‑flag example of how a viral line can turn an entire community into a suspect long before the facts arrive.