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Woman Arrested Boarding Flight To Syria With $24,000 Hidden In Clothes (Al Qaeda mule fleeing USA?)
Associated Press ^ | 10/10/04 | Associated Press

Posted on 08/11/2004 6:03:29 PM PDT by jimbo123

MINNEAPOLIS -- A woman was arrested after attempting to board a flight en route to Syria with more than $24,000 in cash hidden in her clothes, officials said Tuesday.

Amneh Ahmad Abbas, 49, a Syrian citizen who lives in New Orleans, was charged Monday with trying to evade currency reporting requirements, the U.S. Attorney's office said. She was ordered held without bail.

The U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on whether Abbas, who has permanent resident status in the United States, is suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. However, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was taking part in the investigation.

The United States has imposed trade sanctions on Syria on grounds the Arab state was allegedly supporting terrorism.

According to the criminal complaint, Abbas was detained Friday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as she attempted to board a Northwest Airlines flight. Her ultimate destination was Syria.

Abbas told officers she had $9,919 and 4,200 Syrian pounds in a fanny pack and purse. But officers found a parcel containing $22,400 and an envelope with another $1,600 hidden in her clothes, the complaint said.

The United States requires people entering or leaving the country with amounts of $10,000 or more to report it to customs authorities.

If convicted, Abbas would face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Another hearing was scheduled for Thursday.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Minnesota; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abbas; almosaleh; amnehabbas; amsterdam; minneapolis; moneytrail; mosaleh; msp; syria; syrian; terror; twincitiescell
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To: Happygal

It's not a restriction. You can carry all you want. You just have to declare over $10K. Be honest and you'll do much better than if you lie. It's obvious that she had reason to lie, fearing that her real reasons for lugging that much cash would be sussed.


21 posted on 08/11/2004 6:29:06 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
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To: jimbo123

And the other day they caught someone in Charlotte who had video of buildings in New Orleans. Makes one a bit suspicious that NOLA has a sleeper cell or may be one of the next targets.


22 posted on 08/11/2004 6:29:54 PM PDT by Kirkwood
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To: Mister Baredog
My take on the Johnson thing is that periodically Hollywood has money laundering mules run their yearly "take without tax implications" to be hidden in accounts in nations with banking laws that protect it's owners.

$50,000,000,000 is a whole..............lotta moolah. I question if even P.Diddy could spend it as fast as it accrued?

23 posted on 08/11/2004 6:31:58 PM PDT by blackdog (Hell is an endless hayfield needing to be raked, baled, and put up.)
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To: Kirkwood
Our enemies from Islam had better not mess with the south. If they go blowing stuff up in Charlotte, Memphis, Atlanta, Chatenooga, etc.....They'll be a whole lotta pickup trucks visiting every mosque in the south with guns a blazin and torches alightin, and not to forget Neil Young.........Bullwhip's a crackin'.

Yankees and mind numbed west coasters will go peacefully to slaughter, but not our fine folks from the south.

24 posted on 08/11/2004 6:36:28 PM PDT by blackdog (Hell is an endless hayfield needing to be raked, baled, and put up.)
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To: blackdog
Did Al Gore declare $30,000 in currency

He wasn't robbed of $30,000 in cash.

25 posted on 08/11/2004 6:37:01 PM PDT by Doe Eyes
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To: jimbo123
Al Qaeda is using female mules to send their money overseas prior to the upcoming attack, just like they did in the weeks prior to 9/11.

Is this the kind of "mule" that Al Sharpton wanted with his 40 acres?

26 posted on 08/11/2004 6:37:41 PM PDT by X-FID ( The police aren't in the streets to create disorder; they are in the streets to preserve disorder.)
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To: TASMANIANRED

"Al didn't have it in his sock."

You are right!
I remember that photo,
his gym socks were on an "undercover mission."


27 posted on 08/11/2004 6:38:21 PM PDT by cavan
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To: jimbo123

$24k is nothing - she was probably just taking it home for gifts --- Really!


28 posted on 08/11/2004 6:39:46 PM PDT by steplock
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To: Doe Eyes
Well was he robbed of $30,000 in iced tea?

Just what was Al Gore robbed of worth $30,000 but not in cash? It couldn't have been intellectual property?

29 posted on 08/11/2004 6:40:21 PM PDT by blackdog (Hell is an endless hayfield needing to be raked, baled, and put up.)
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To: jimbo123

Looked through the white pages. A few Abbas listed in the New Orleans area.


30 posted on 08/11/2004 6:41:35 PM PDT by Bogey78O (Kerry lied and if elected people will die.)
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To: Kirkwood

FBI: Al Qaeda Could Be Using Women for Logistical Support

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,85076,00.html


31 posted on 08/11/2004 6:41:52 PM PDT by jimbo123
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To: blackdog
Why would they flee with cash? The safest place for terrorists is right here in Anytown, USA.

This sand harlot obviously knew that the Feds were hot on her trail, and decided to try and make a run for it with her bankroll. If she had her American currency in a bank, alarm bells probably went off all over the place the instant she demanded a full cash withdrawal.

32 posted on 08/11/2004 6:42:57 PM PDT by jpl ("Go balloons, go ballons! Confetti, confetti, where's the confetti?" - Don Mischer)
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To: Happygal
I just didn't realise that there was such a low restriction on the amount of cash you can bring with you into the US.

You misread the story. There is no such restriction. There is a reporting requirement.

Download the form from the treasury web site, fill it out, file it, and you are free to travel.

Along the same lines, the law used to be if you withdrew more than $10,000 from the bank in cash, the bank had to report the transaction. (The law has been broadened so that more transactions are now reportable, but $10,000 will still cause a SAR to be generated.)

33 posted on 08/11/2004 6:44:42 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: jimbo123

$24,000 is not THAT much money these days....


34 posted on 08/11/2004 6:47:33 PM PDT by traumer
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To: eno_

Muslim women have been used for a long time to smuggle cash into and out of the United States.


35 posted on 08/11/2004 6:49:21 PM PDT by Enterprise
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To: TomGuy

I'm sure she just left it in the pockets when she did the wash. I'm always laundering money that way --- not quite that much....


36 posted on 08/11/2004 6:50:44 PM PDT by eccentric (aka baldwidow)
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To: jpl

Sand harlot! Now that's funny!!!


37 posted on 08/11/2004 6:53:31 PM PDT by Lobbyist
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To: jimbo123

i dont know about syria, but in iran us dollars are the best thing to take with you (even europeans bring us$), and you have to take them with you because its very very hard to get money from overseas with the banks there.

now i also dont know about syria in this regard, but you cant take cash out of iran and you have to tell them how much when you go in. last few times i went in and out we didnt tell the iranians how many us$ we had because its better that way.

she may be up to no good, but really, she may just be taking her cash with her. does anyone know about syria and the laws regarding money in and out?


38 posted on 08/11/2004 6:55:22 PM PDT by sweneop
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To: M Kehoe

It worries me the so much is happening in my beloved MSP, but at least we are on the ball stopping the people who are up to no good.


39 posted on 08/11/2004 6:57:27 PM PDT by Finalapproach29er ( Election day: FOUR Supreme Court Justices! Enough said.)
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To: jpl

That and a one way plane ticket would certainly set off the alarms. We were waiting for her!!


40 posted on 08/11/2004 8:06:16 PM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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