Cocaine Smuggling Linked to Terrorists December 20
One of the groups that may be profiting from the cocaine trade may turn out to be one of the groups that aim to spark terror in the world.
Three men believed to have ties with Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden were charged before federal court in New York. The men were accused of attempting to smuggle cocaine, and were arrested during a sting operation staged by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Ghana.
There is allegedly an 18-page complaint that discusses a web of mafia and terrorist activity in Northwestern Africa and is now causing increasing alarm among European, African and U.S. investigators.
West Africa reportedly saw a rise in cocaine traffic over the last few years. The area is now believed to have been turned into a hub by the Latin American Mafia where cocaine passes through as it journeys through the Atlantic into the profitable European drug market.
An Al Qaeda cell in the Maghreb region is reportedly engaged in the smuggling of cocaine through routes that cross the Sahara. Part of their income allegedly comes from providing protection and participating in the moving of illegal substances through “smuggling corridors” that pass through Morocco into Spain and by way of Libya and Algeria into Italy.
Having such ties may have one consequence that has authorities worried; profits gained from such trade may be used to finance terrorist attacks in the West. As an example, the train bombings in Madrid in 2004 were said to have been financed by North Africans with Al Qaeda connections who earned the money dealing hashish and Ecstasy.
Authorities were quick to clarify, however, that the three suspects were not members of Al Qaeda themselves, but are believed to have connections with the group.
Tags: drug abuse, drug money, drug smuggling, drug terror attacks