"UK police say drug sales funded terror" May 02, 2012
I'm sure bank$ will be happy to launder it.
LONDON
- Seven people have been arrested in Britain on suspicion of financing
terrorism in Somalia by smuggling into the United States a plant that
can produce a mild high, officials said Tuesday.
Scotland Yard
said the group was arrested as part of a joint investigation with agents
of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
The operation focused
on a network suspected of illegally exporting a plant known as khat
from the United Kingdom, where it is legal, to the United States and
Canada, where it is a controlled substance, Scotland Yard said.
???????
Ross
Feinstein, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs, said the proceeds
of the sales were then transferred to Somalia. He added that most of the
khat came from Kenya, and that US law enforcement officials are
continuing to work closely with their counterparts overseas.
Khat
is popular in East Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Users chew
on the leaf to induce feelings of euphoria. It has been illegal in the
United States since 1993.
Police said the seven people arrested in
the raids are suspected of involvement in funding a terrorist
organization and laundering the proceeds of crime for that purpose.
Intelligence agencies to it all the time.
--more--"
Speaking of one:
"Somali pirates release British hostage; Tourist was held for six
months after Kenya raid" by Alan Cowell | New York Times, March
22, 2012
LONDON — A British tourist seized by Somali
raiders from a secluded resort on the Kenyan coast more than six months
ago in an attack that claimed her husband’s life was set free by her
captors Wednesday, ending a gripping drama that had helped fuel Kenya’s
rationale for invading southern Somalia....
See: Kenya Comes to Somalia's Rescue
Judith
Tebbutt’s abduction was one of several kidnappings by Somali gunmen last
year that Kenyan officials initially cited as justification for
sending troops into Somalia on Oct. 16, arguing that they had to defend
Kenya’s tourism industry. But soon afterward, the Kenyan government
disclosed that the foray was planned much earlier, part of a covert
strategy to penetrate Somalia and keep the violence in one of Africa’s
most anarchic countries from spilling into one of Africa’s most
stable....
And the U.S. knew nothing about it.
Sort of makes you wonder who exactly is kidnapping people.
--more--"
Related:
Pirates set UK couple free after 388 days
A British couple kidnapped off their private yacht by Somali pirates
more than a year ago where set free yesterday, ending one of the most
drawn-out and dramatic hostage sieges since the rash of piracy began off the coast of East Africa.
Any questions?
