U.S. Charges 3 (West Africans) in Drug Case With Helping Al Qaeda

New York Times ^ | December 18, 2009 | William K. Rashbaum

[reaganaut1]

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed narcotics and terrorism charges on Friday against three West Africans they identified as associates of Al Qaeda and a related terrorist group.

While the United States Drug Enforcement Administration has long maintained that Al Qaeda has been involved in drug trafficking, officials at the agency said the case represented the first time such charges had been brought against people linked with the group.

The three men — identified as Oumar Issa, Harouna Touré and Idriss Abelrahman — were arrested on Wednesday in Ghana and flown to the United States on Thursday night, law enforcement officials said.

They were charged with narcotics terrorism conspiracy, the officials said, as well as conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups — Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The case grew out of sting operation, officials said. Two Drug Enforcement Administration informants posing as members of FARC, the Colombian terrorist group, approached the men, seeking their help to move large quantities of cocaine from West Africa, through North Africa and the desert and into Spain, the officials said.

The three men, who identified themselves to the informants as either associates of Al Qaeda, or of a related group, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, told the informants that they had provided similar transportation and security services to members of Al Qaeda, the officials said.

[reaganaut1]

Fewer Muslim immigrants means fewer problems.

[AtlasStalled]

The U.S. better get more serious in the war on drugs, and start shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border and going after the drug trafficking organizations — whether Mexican drug cartels or traditional Mafia groups — because the lines between terrorism and organized crime increasingly are blurring.

[b4its2late]

We just keep letting them in....

[Tainan]

This story is hanky in several ways.

"Mr. Touré initially cited a transportation price of $2,000 per kilogram of cocaine, as the men discussed shipments of 500 to 1,000 kilograms (about 1,100 to 2,200 pounds), the complaint said. But he later increased the price to $10,000 a kilo, citing his own costs and expenses, including paying people along the route."

Transport prices on a "per kilo" basis are way too high to begin with and then, in this story, they are increased exorbitantly....B.S.

Also, it sounds like Mr. Toure' is nothing more than a flim-flam opportunist with a fast talk and shaky walk.
These three sound like nothing more than 'low-hanging fruit' rustled-up and brought in for a press conference, a D.A.'s resume and sound bites on the MSM.

The choke point is in the Canary Islands. Thats where you catch the big loads being trans-shipped to EuroLand.