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www.ambiente.us JANUARY | ENERO 2010
Colombians, al-Qaida create ‘unholy’ alliance
Terror group helps FARC rebels smuggle cocaine into
Europe, DEA says
BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian guerrillas have entered into "an unholy
alliance" with Islamic extremists who are helping the Marxist rebels smuggle
cocaine through Africa on its way to European consumers, a U.S. official told
Reuters.
Interdiction efforts have made it more difficult to send cocaine straight from
Colombia and other Andean producer nations to the United States and Europe.
So criminal organizations including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, are going through Africa to access the European market.
And they are doing it with the help of al-Qaida and other groups branded
terrorists by Washington, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.
"In the mid to late 1990s when the Europeans became better at maritime
interdiction, off the coasts of Portugal and Spain for example, traffickers
started moving their routes southward. So the next progression was to Western
Africa," said Jay Bergman, DEA director for the
Andean region of South America.
Three West African men accused of ties to
al-Qaida were extradited to New York in
Colombians, al-Qaida create ‘unholy’ alliance
Terror group helps FARC rebels smuggle cocaine into
Europe, DEA says
BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian guerrillas have entered into "an unholy
alliance" with Islamic extremists who are helping the Marxist rebels smuggle
cocaine through Africa on its way to European consumers, a U.S. official told
Reuters.
Interdiction efforts have made it more difficult to send cocaine straight from
Colombia and other Andean producer nations to the United States and Europe.
So criminal organizations including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, are going through Africa to access the European market.
And they are doing it with the help of al-Qaida and other groups branded
terrorists by Washington, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.
"In the mid to late 1990s when the Europeans became better at maritime
interdiction, off the coasts of Portugal and Spain for example, traffickers
started moving their routes southward. So the next progression was to Western
Africa," said Jay Bergman, DEA director for the
Andean region of South America.
Three West African men accused of ties to
al-Qaida were extradited to New York in
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in December on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
It was the first time U.S. authorities established a link suggesting al-Qaida is
funding itself in part by providing security for drug smugglers in West Africa.
"As suggested by the recent arrest of three alleged al-Qaida operatives, the
expansion of cocaine trafficking through West Africa has provided the venue
for an unholy alliance between South American narco-terrorists and Islamic
extremists," Bergman said in an interview over the weekend.
To reach the U.S. market, Colombian smugglers are meanwhile being driven to
use disposable, fiberglass submarines. The homemade craft are constructed in
the mangroves of Colombia's Pacific coast, used to carry drugs to Mexico for
transshipment to the United States, then sunk.
All big Colombian trafficking groups, including the 45-year-old FARC, are using
Africa to reach European cocaine consumers while Mexican cartels import
chemicals used to make methamphetamine via the same route, Bergman said.
"For trafficking organizations to survive, they first and foremost have to be
flexible and make adjustments quickly to law enforcement efforts," he added.
"West Africa is that current alternative."
'Springboard location'
When sea interdictions stepped up, traffickers started using planes to get
cocaine to Africa. Most flights appear to take off from Venezuela, which shares
a border with Colombia.
It was the first time U.S. authorities established a link suggesting al-Qaida is
funding itself in part by providing security for drug smugglers in West Africa.
"As suggested by the recent arrest of three alleged al-Qaida operatives, the
expansion of cocaine trafficking through West Africa has provided the venue
for an unholy alliance between South American narco-terrorists and Islamic
extremists," Bergman said in an interview over the weekend.
To reach the U.S. market, Colombian smugglers are meanwhile being driven to
use disposable, fiberglass submarines. The homemade craft are constructed in
the mangroves of Colombia's Pacific coast, used to carry drugs to Mexico for
transshipment to the United States, then sunk.
All big Colombian trafficking groups, including the 45-year-old FARC, are using
Africa to reach European cocaine consumers while Mexican cartels import
chemicals used to make methamphetamine via the same route, Bergman said.
"For trafficking organizations to survive, they first and foremost have to be
flexible and make adjustments quickly to law enforcement efforts," he added.
"West Africa is that current alternative."
'Springboard location'
When sea interdictions stepped up, traffickers started using planes to get
cocaine to Africa. Most flights appear to take off from Venezuela, which shares
a border with Colombia.
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"All of the aircraft seizures that have been made in West Africa, and we've
made about a half a dozen of them, had departed from Venezuela. If you look
at the range and refueling requirements, that's the place you have to fly from,"
he said.
"Geography is the key reason why Venezuela has become a springboard
location," Bergman added.
Venezuela's fiery left-wing President Hugo Chavez says the United States and
Colombia are using anti-drug operations as a cover for a planned invasion of
his oil-rich country. Washington and Bogota dismiss the allegation.
The West African drug trade meanwhile threatens to further destabilize
countries such as Guinea Bissau, where traffickers have been implicated in the
killing of a president.
To clamp down on the Colombia-to-Africa cocaine route the DEA is focusing
on improving its intelligence rather than relying on costly patrols over the
Atlantic.
"It is much cheaper to have a DEA agent operating in West Africa with sources
of information that can pinpoint the time that a plane is leaving or the route
that a ship is taking and the name of that ship, than it is to set up a gauntlet of
multinational frigates and surveillance planes," Bergman said.
Copyright 2010 © Reuters & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
made about a half a dozen of them, had departed from Venezuela. If you look
at the range and refueling requirements, that's the place you have to fly from,"
he said.
"Geography is the key reason why Venezuela has become a springboard
location," Bergman added.
Venezuela's fiery left-wing President Hugo Chavez says the United States and
Colombia are using anti-drug operations as a cover for a planned invasion of
his oil-rich country. Washington and Bogota dismiss the allegation.
The West African drug trade meanwhile threatens to further destabilize
countries such as Guinea Bissau, where traffickers have been implicated in the
killing of a president.
To clamp down on the Colombia-to-Africa cocaine route the DEA is focusing
on improving its intelligence rather than relying on costly patrols over the
Atlantic.
"It is much cheaper to have a DEA agent operating in West Africa with sources
of information that can pinpoint the time that a plane is leaving or the route
that a ship is taking and the name of that ship, than it is to set up a gauntlet of
multinational frigates and surveillance planes," Bergman said.
Copyright 2010 © Reuters & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
