In addition the New York Times reports the CIA has been operating a system of secret detention centers around the world that has been justified by a series of classified legal opinions by the agency and the Justice Department. It is not known how many detainees are in this secret system or the locations of the detention centers. Some of the prisoners held have never been identified publicly by the government. One former intelligence official told the Times “There was a debate after 9/11 about how to make people disappear.” One of the secret legal opinions advised the CIA that it could skirt US law prohibiting torture by technically handing over custody of the detainees to another country.