http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/international/2014/June/international_June26.xml§ion=international
Terror groups on backfoot after drug seizures on seas
Allan Jacob / 2 June 2014
Record hauls of contraband at sea worth millions of dollars confirm
terror-narcotics link
HMS Somerset's during operations. 55.72kg of heroin was stowed in the
vessel. -- Courtesy: Combined Maritime Forces
1/3
Terror groups like Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab and the Taleban are on the backfoot
following a series of major drug seizures on the high seas this year. The
illegal global trade in narcotics is an important source of funds for these
outfits and recent record seizures by global navies in the Indian Ocean,
Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea from January to May have
disrupted their operations to a large extent.
A whopping 2,871kg of heroin and 2,736kg of hashish worth millions of
dollars were recovered from smugglers on boats in 10 major operations. In
the latest bust, 55.7kg of heroin worth $22million was recovered on May 25
from a dhow in the north Arabian Sea by the Royal Navy's HMS Somerset
operating under the Combined Maritime Forces, a coalition of navies.
Naval officials Khaleej Times spoke to were tight-lipped as to where the
contraband was headed for operational reasons, but said their patrolling,
confiscation and destruction of the dangerous contarband had dealt a
"significant blow" to drug smuggling networks linked to Al Qaeda and Al
Shabaab.
Two weeks ago, the Australian HMAS Darwin netted 786kg of hashish from
another dhow. On May 15, the same ship intercepted a boat off the East
African coast to recover and destroy 449kg of heroin.
In April, the Combined Task Force (CTF-150) of the naval coalition based in
Bahrain, pulled in a whopping 1,032kg of heroin, a record, near Kenya and
Tanzania. ''The successful seizures are testament to the evolving and
increasingly effective cooperation and coordination between international
maritime forces working under CTF 150," said Lieutanant Commander Sally
Armstrong of the Royal Navy.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) confirmed this was the
largest ever amount of heroin seized on the high seas.
No arrests were made in all cases and the contraband was destroyed at sea,
said officials. "After the heroin seizures was made and the drugs destroyed
at sea, the crew of the dhows were released. For operational reasons, it is
normal practice for the people on the smuggling vessels to be allowed to
continue on their way once all the illegal narcotics carried aboard have
been removed and destroyed,'' said the navy official. Narco-terrorism
experts said the successful operations conducted by the Combined Maritime
Forces confirmed the increasing drug operations in East Africa, which had
dramatically risen since 2009.
"Drug traffickers, working closely with transnational crime and terrorist
groups, have been rapidly expanding their operations in East and West
Africa, which pose the biggest security threat that affects the region,''
said Johan Obdola, President of the International Organisation of Security
and Intelligence.
In East Africa, heroin and cannabis (resin) from South-West Asia have
become a $190 million-year-business and approximately 24 tonnes of drugs
are moved annually. "The source of the drugs are mainly Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and India-China with landing areas in East Africa being used as
temporary trans-shipment hubs for smuggling operations," said Obdola.
Recently, cocaine has also been moved along the East Coast of Africa and
the seizures off Kenya and Tanzania are indicative of the routes smugglers
take. The most active drug operations have spread, but some focused areas
are Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. Heroin and cannabis
come from Thailand, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and China (Meth)
while most cocaine has its origins in Latin America.
There are strong ties in East Africa between organised crime, drug cartels
and terrorist groups to coordinate all levels of operations. Active terror
groups are Al Shabaab, which is affiliated to Al Qaeda, particularly Al
Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP), and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM). Obdola said Boko Haram works with Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda and is
looking to expand regionally.
Obdola believes Al Shabaab uses its links to the Al Qaeda in the Arab
Peninsula (AQAP) to receive guns, ammunition, medicine, communication
equipment, grenades, surveillance equipment, mortar bombs and other
bomb-making components. The drug operations are an important source of
funds which they need to keep well oiled.
''The relationship between Al Qaeda (AQIM) and organised drug smuggling
cartels started out with AQIM offering protection to the cartels against
the payment of right-of-passage taxes along the long-established smuggling
routes in the vast, lightly-occupied Sahel region. ''Since the 1990s,
cocaine trafficking has become a significant source of funding for them,''
said Obdola.
UN statistics showed 33 tonnes of cocaine flowed through West Africa in
2010 and 18 tonnes were shipped to Europe, for an estimated value of $1.25
billion.
It said local manufacture of methamphetamines was booming with 1,250kg of
amphetamines seized in Côte d'Ivoire in 2013, and 227 kg seized in Nigeria
between June 2012 and July 2013.
allan_at_khaleejtimes.com
For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at
facebook.com/khaleejtimes, and on Twitter at _at_khaleejtimes
Received on Mon Jun 02 2014 - 08:49:39 EDT