Rockingham native serves as US security lead at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar

ROCKINGHAM —A Rockingham-native is leading the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Special Agent Nicholas Prieto, a 2002 Richmond Senior High graduate, always envisioned a role in federal law enforcement.

After serving as a sheriff’s deputy in Chatham County, he served as an infantry officer in the US Army and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 and 2014.

“In the back of my head, federal law enforcement is always where I wanted to be,” Prieto said, adding that that decision was solidified during his time overseas.

Prieto started applying to the Diplomatic Security Service in 2013, and after a lengthy application period, began onboarding in 2015.

DSS, which consists of between 2,500 special agents, technical specialists and diplomatic couriers, are in more than 270 U.S. diplomatic posts in over 170 countries. Similar to the Secret Service, agents have dual roles of protection and investigation.

Prieto investigated fraud for two years in Washington, D.C., at the onset of his career. He’s served temporary duties directly with Secretaries of State John Kerry, Rex Tillerson, and Mike Pompeo.

In February of 2020, Prieto worked in Pakistan for about a year and a half.

“A long portion of our careers is abroad,” said Prieto, who’s son is turning seven years old in January. “It can be trying at times, but it’s not so much different than the military. It’s a choose your own adventure job.”

Prieto first arrived in Qatar in July of 2021, as DSS began preparation for the FIFA World Cup two years prior to the event. He has traveled to the capital, Doha, six times since then for site surveys, and also went to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics to prepare.

Qatar authorities are in charge of the overall event, and the DSS is coordinating with them in a liaison, advisory support role.

DSS chairs the International Security Event Group, a US government interagency effort of more than 17 U.S. law enforcement, security and defense agencies that meet the mandate of ensuring the protection of U.S. citizens overseas, conducted the largest training event in the history of Qatar along with 13 countries and 190 participants. Security exercises included weapons of mass destruction/explosive ordinance disposal, surveillance detection and infrastructure protection.

As the event lead, Prieto’s office is responsible for coordinating the safety for the U.S. Men’s team, along with corporate stakeholders and members of the U.S. media. There is a 24/7 joint operations center, along with the ISEG, that assists in the security effort.

Prieto said that the majority of the Qataris that his office interacts with are fluent in English, although some of their agents on the ground are fluent in Arabic.

Prieto said that he wasn’t permitted to share how many special agents are embedded in the overall effort. He said that while there is conflicting information on the expected turnout for the World Cup, it’s expected that over 1.2 million people will be in attendance.

FIFA reports that ticket sales have reached just under 3 million tickets.

“I hope that [the U.S. Men’s team] goes all the way, but we stay from start to finish regardless of [their finish],” Prieto said.

His parents, Michael and Nicki Prieto, still live in Rockingham.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will begin on Sunday, Nov. 20, and the US Men’s team will have their first game that Monday.

“It’s a great feeling to finally be here in Doha,” Prieto said. “Folks will be arriving soon, and all the DSS agents will on the ground awaiting their arrival.”