Posted on 06/16/2004 1:18:56 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Terrorists turn to drug trafficking, forgery and credit card fraud after usual sources of funding are frozen
LONDON - Al-Qaeda members are turning increasingly to criminal activities to fund their terror campaign.
Faced with a crackdown on their usual sources of financing, they have turned to drug trafficking, counterfeiting, forgery and credit card fraud.
Law enforcers are still uncertain how to tackle this new aspect of the terrorist threat.
After the US-led war in Afghanistan overthrew the Taleban regime in late 2001, Al-Qaeda was forced to scatter. The freezing of about US$130 million (S$225 million) of alleged terrorist funds worldwide, and action to stop charities channelling donations to the terrorists, have forced them to look for their own incomes.
The success of the war on terror has been in hindering Al-Qaeda's access to these funds. By using the proceeds of crime, Al-Qaeda can circumvent many of the formal financial measures now ranged against it.
The drugs trade is a key source of finance in Al-Qaeda's central and south Asian heartland, partly because the export route from Afghanistan is well-established and accessible.
Afghanistan is the source of 70 per cent of the world's heroin poppies - and probably the drugs seized by the United States in the Arabian Sea - US military and intelligence officials say.
Narcotics, which contribute US$2.5 billion to the Afghan informal economy, are worth US$30 billion on the streets of Russia, Europe and North America.
'Groups in Afghanistan have drugs, and they sell it to Russian gangs. The relationships are fundamentally amorphous and fluid, and although they operate within a network, they are each doing their own thing,' said a leading expert on Russian organised crime. 'But there is no question at all that Al-Qaeda funding in Afghanistan and Pakistan is from drugs.'
Meanwhile, counterfeiting, forgery and credit card fraud have become the financial backbone of numerous individual terrorist cells linked to Al-Qaeda in western Europe, according to intelligence services across Europe and central Asia.
Fake documents, credit cards and other forgeries are being used to provide extremist groups with new identities or sold at a premium to criminal gangs.
Interpol figures indicate that counterfeiting may now be more profitable than drug trafficking in western Europe.
The organisation believes 'there is a significant link between counterfeiting and terrorism in locations where there are terrorist groups', Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble told reporters in Brussels last month.
According to the agency, earnings from counterfeiting and drug trafficking may amount to £10 (S$30) for every £1 invested.
But fake goods may be easier and more economical to transport - 1kg of pirated compact discs is currently worth £3,000 in western Europe, while a kilo of cannabis resin is valued at £1,000, according to Interpol.
The penalties for trafficking drugs are also higher than those for counterfeiting.
'Al-Qaeda is rethinking aspects of its modus operandi,' said a senior intelligence officer.
'But it would be wary of dealing with a criminal network that was not their own people. The Islamists are also alert to law enforcement, and aware that criminal networks can be infiltrated.'
But supporting a terrorist network is expensive. According to Mr Noble, 10 per cent of Al-Qaeda's estimated US$30 million to US$50 million annual expenditure in 2001 was used to finance attacks. The rest was used to maintain the terrorist network. US officials now put Al-Qaeda's annual expenditure at about US$10 million.
Mr Noble told a US congressional committee last July: 'Intellectual property crime is becoming the preferred method of funding for a number of terrorist groups.
'In the case of terrorist groups who resemble organised crime groups, counterfeiting is attractive because they can invest at the beginning of the counterfeiting cycle and extract an illicit profit at each stage of the counterfeiting process - from production to sale - thus maximising returns,' he said. -- Financial Times
Well Duhhh!
When you're already a murderer what difference does this make?
In the history of human language, I don't think a more unintentionally funny line has ever been written.
Terrorists are turning to crime? This is news in London?
Well I guess they were not considered criminals before huh !
Faced with the collapse of his protection racket, Al Capone turns to crime.
Well I guess they were not considered criminals before huh !
LOL! DOesn;t sound like it. They probably are still not considered criminals - they are just turning to crime in these "difficult times", forced to do so by a society that does not "understand" them. Pooh!
Meanwhile, Arsonists turn to making fires.
They could, you know, like, ARREST THEM!
The RICO laws seem to apply to the Italian mob, I don't know why they don't apply to some of these Borg like hives of the "Muslim community".
-PJ
Silly rabbit, the 9/11 commission says there's no way, no how Saddam was involved with terrorism, and anyone that thinks otherwise should question their own patriotism because to question the 9/11 commission is to question patriotism itself.
</retch>
There you have it kids--download an mp3, give a terrorist a quarter.
Does this mean they were law-abiding in the past and now the news is that they have turned to crime? This not news. It is regurgitation.
Hmmm. Next thing you know they'll be no better than criminals.
Glad I wasn't the only one to see it that way!:)
Buy drugs, support terrorism.
You mean to tell me terrorists don't follow the law? I'm shocked. But wait, Kerry said the WOT was primarily a law enforcement action?????
Good, maybe they'll step on some of the toes of the 'Don Corleone' types, and be 'rubbed out' by the mafia..
I'm beginning to understand the harsh treatment, even unto death, that substance abusers are treated to in muslim (and some other) countries. The junkies are far more visible and vulnerable than the suppliers and dealers and, if the market, the "customer base," is destroyed, that would certainly cut deeply into drug trafficking profits. But of course, that is never going to be an option for us -- because the libertarians tell us that buying and using illicit drugs is a "victimless crime." No, no. Instead, we coddle these people with "diversion" programs and "counseling." Meanwhile, the more we "counsel" them, the more the armies of addicts grow, feeding the bank accounts of terrorists -- which also grow, by leaps and bounds.
Cracking down on addicts is also not an option because all the inner city politicos from Conyers to Waters will continue to shield the thriving drug trade in their districts. Come down on the junkies and their pushers and these tribunes of the people will screech "racism!"
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