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Navy Seizes Boat With $11M in Hashish
The Associated Press ^
| 1/4/04
Posted on 01/02/2004 10:30:11 AM PST by freeperfromnj
U.S. Navy Seizes Small Boat Carrying $11 Million Worth of Hashish Near Persian Gulf
WASHINGTON Jan. 2 The U.S. Navy has seized another small boat carrying drugs near the Persian Gulf after interrogating smugglers with suspected links to the al-Qaida terrorist network, the military announced Friday. The boat seized on New Year's Day was the fourth drug-smuggling vessel intercepted by Americans in the past two weeks in or near the Persian Gulf. Pentagon officials say they believe all four boats, which were carrying hashish, heroin and methamphetamines, are part of a drug smuggling operation which funnels money to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.
An American search of the boat, a wooden vessel called a dhow, found about 2,800 pounds of hashish with an estimated street value of $11 million, according to a statement from the Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain.
U.S. Navy ships including the USS Port Royal, USS Peleliu and USS Germantown stopped the boat Thursday in the northern Arabian Sea, said Cmdr. James Graybeal, a 5th Fleet spokesman. Searchers found the drugs Friday under blocks of ice and in hidden compartments in the vessel, he said.
Fifteen people aboard the dhow are being held by the Navy aboard the Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship which carries the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
TOPICS: Front Page News; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 13thmeu; 5thfleet; alqaedaships; drugtrafficking; interdiction; moneytrail; usn; ussgermantown; usspeleliu; ussportroyal; wod
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To: freeperfromnj
Way to go guys!
To: Ragtime Cowgirl; Dog; Angelus Errare
Another hit to Al Qaeda!
3
posted on
01/02/2004 10:33:09 AM PST
by
Coop
(God bless our troops!)
To: freeperfromnj
Bump!
4
posted on
01/02/2004 10:35:58 AM PST
by
Pro-Bush
(Homeland Security + Tom Ridge = Open Borders --> Demand Change!)
To: freeperfromnj
We should cut them off completely - and legalize. No black market, no profits to buy weapons.
5
posted on
01/02/2004 10:37:34 AM PST
by
thoughtomator
("I will do whatever the Americans want because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid"-Qadafi)
To: thoughtomator
Naw, we should just start making a lot of smoking holes in the water.
To: Coop
Understand, their annual budget is between $150-200 million a year. While I have little doubt that this is going to leave them hurting for cash in the long-term, major hits like this force the network to raise or move greater quantities of cash that is easier for law enforcement to detect.
The shift from drugs also reflects the success of US anti-terrorism efforts in disrupting their financing. Now that Taylor is out of power in Liberia, they can't use his country as a base to get diamonds out of anymore.
To: Angelus Errare
You're exactly right. And not only do we force the change in money movement, but we also have captured ten of their folks. While they're probably not top-level folks, their incarceration has to be causing some serious heartburn for their higher-ups.
8
posted on
01/02/2004 10:58:00 AM PST
by
Coop
(God bless our troops!)
To: freeperfromnj
Avast, me hearties! Do they split up the prize amongst the crew as bounty? ;)
9
posted on
01/02/2004 11:02:49 AM PST
by
Kenton
(Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Cuervo...)
To: freeperfromnj
I think the dhow was a little overmatched.
The USS Peleliu:
To: Coop
I consider the hashish a more valuable catch than the cannon fodder. Guarding a drug shipment isn't exactly all that glorious an assignment for a prospective holy warrior, in all likelihood they'd much rather be in Iraq or Afghanistan or Chechnya duking it out with the kufr. The other thing to keep in mind is that this is the fourth drug bust we've had along this same route (though we have yet to learn whether these drugs are coming from the Arabian Peninsula or Iran), i.e. we've compromised their traffic line.
To: Angelus Errare
So do I, but I'm not discounting the possibility of some decent intel to be coaxed from some of them. And even in compartmental Al Qaeda, there have to be a couple of direct reports on either end getting extremely nervous.
12
posted on
01/02/2004 11:15:53 AM PST
by
Coop
(God bless our troops!)
To: Coop
Willy Nelson was deeply saddened.
To: freeperfromnj
Wait 'til the potheads see this thread. Hope your wearing your asbestos long johns!
To: Destructor
They're too busy defending one of their "Just Say Yes" campaign threads for the moment.
To: freeperfromnj
2,800 pounds of hashish with an estimated street value of $11 millionThat works out to about $8.77 per gram give or take a few cents. That's down quite a bit from $20-$30 p. gram in 1973. Is the WOsD's working yet?
16
posted on
01/02/2004 11:20:26 AM PST
by
TigersEye
("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
To: freeperfromnj
The sons of John Paul Jones collide with the Cheech and Chong navy!
17
posted on
01/02/2004 11:27:22 AM PST
by
Snickersnee
(Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket???)
To: CWOJackson; Destructor
So why do you think the potheads would care about this? Hashish doesn't make it over that often anyway so the heads that you're talking about won't care anyway. Just out of curiosity do either of you drink or smoke cigarettes and if you do what will you do when the anti smoke kooks outlaw alcohol & tobacco. Don't think it's possible, just look at the start of it in New York, it's happening as we speak. What I find funny about you WOD's is that you will be on the same side of the law as the Potheads you're making fun of when they outlaw alcohol and tobbacco. They just outlawed ephederine this week, who know's what's next?
18
posted on
01/02/2004 11:34:45 AM PST
by
HELLRAISER II
(Give us another tax break Mr. President)
To: Destructor
They get testy when their in mourning.
To: freeperfromnj; Coop
20
posted on
01/02/2004 11:38:33 AM PST
by
Ragtime Cowgirl
( "Our military is full of the finest people on the face of the earth." ~ Pres. Bush, Baghdad)
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