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 markets, 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.
As a result, criminal organizations including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are accessing European markets via Africa. They are doing this with the help of al Qaeda and other groups branded "terrorists" by Washington, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
"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 Qaeda were extradited to New York in December on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
It was the first time U.S. authorities have found evidence suggesting that al Qaeda is funding itself in part by providing security for drug smugglers in West Africa.
"As suggested by the recent arrest of three alleged al Qaeda 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 on the weekend.
To reach the U.S. market, Colombian smugglers have 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, and then sunk.
Venezuelan connection
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."
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.
"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. (Hugh Bronstein / Reuters)
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Comments (25)
Andrewmann552
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... Is anyone surprised the US is again trying to fuse Al Qaeda with anyone it doesn't like? According to Chavez's enemies, Venezuela is a springboard for Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and apparently now Al Qaeda? This is pretty laughable. Obama's own National Security Advisor admits there are barely 100, if not less, actual Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but the propaganda machine will have you believe there is some sort of giant octopus extending its tenticles everywhere. This is similar to the radical Uribistas who immediately slam any critics as FARC dummies. |
Bluebird
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... and then there is andrewmann who would have us believe the Al Queda, Hezbollah, Hamas, the president of Iran, the president of N. Korea, Chavez, and FARC are all well-intentioned, and benevolent but just "mis-understood"! Chuckle.....chuckle.... snort |
gringomedellin
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... have to agree with Bluebird on this one, Al Queda has the means and knowledge to help move the drugs for a cut. |
Kalcu
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... I know that they should have seen this awhile ago and don't agree with how it is being framed and referenced. It appears that only shows the motivation untruthfully, so people take this 9-22 stunt and an screw ups since then as reminders. Of course people that are forced to live under ground do to the best option in their life is again American will or so they claim. First off having bad attitudes with misinformation about drugs, does far more harm even if it's legalized...because people don't need bad attitudes and they don't need someone with one and authority so convinced that their misleading information is worth fighting until the end. I don't think it's that much to do with geography that Venezuela is used as a export way point, it's surely more to do with poor people...cops make a lot in America and corruption is still around but not at all something that is a serious head check for pointing the figure. It just makes the motivation a lie for something that is valid as truths, which there are plenty of. |
Kalcu
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... Venezuela hide Nazi's, that is a lot to answer for. Venezuela is arming Marxist, which is not a good start with insanely Christian 'Domecratic' Americans. Of course the Muslims want to a piece of the cocaine industry that exist in their nation. It's a more realistic opportunity if you manage to do well, doesn't seem any worse than drilling oil for companies that are very racist. I just wish they didn't BS me so much, I actually pay attention unlike most of the population that has an opinion sweep through them with so much fury and not even all the facts. It seems that 'terrorist' is the new Communism but it's very misleading to not tell people about the very Soviet style influence in Venezuela...that is FAR more dangerous than some very poor 'terrorist's and that is only if they succeed. Intent will be discovered and loses a war, why? Because you can't hide the truth about how you arranged and associated information that would of been much better to use realistically. In Vietnam, it was a good theory about stopping anti-western Governments. But then the USA didn't fight other Governments when they should of since then.....they wait until someone has power and send in the troops, which isn't a problem for decision makers...they just give some 'patriotic' phrase to calm peoples nerves about a few young Americans dying. |
Santos
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... once again the U.S central intelligence wants us to believe that a bunch of peasants with pitchforks and rifles in colombia control the drug trade in the world, and that not only that but that now they have ties to al-qaeda, a group that the U.S helped ideologically and materially build during the 80's and 90's. Como on people, the war on drugs should be waged in the countries where there is massive consuption (U.S and Europe). We have a war on guns too, but you dont seen thanks and planes bombing american gun factories..... the war on drug must be waged in those countries with consumption. Instead one by one, European countries are forging new laws accepting "personal use" of drugs...... well then where do the drugs come from for their "legal personal use"??????? its hypocrisy, not to mention the massive amounts of drug money in U.S banks that number in the hundreds of billions of dollars, this drug war is just a cover to maintain the drug profits and maintain U.S bases throughout the world. |
Bluebird
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... good lord....santos.....who have you been talking to? Chavez and andrewmann? The farc is just a bunch of peasants armed with pitchforks???? REALLY???? and I have to think that the money from the drug trade is NOT stashed in U.S banks where it could easily be frozen and confiscated. It gets stashed in off shore bahamian banks or, more likely, swiss banks. |
Andrewmann552
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... Let's just give Bluebird some milk and cookies so he can go sit down somewhere, the guy never provides any facts or scholarship to back up his rants, as if he even knows anything about Hezbollah or Hamas to provide a detailed critique. Isn't it convenient that just when a new wave of fear and paranoia sweeps the US after the "crotch bomber" as they are calling the Christmas Day flop, FARC is also thrown into the mix without any serious evidence? This could also be another ploy to help Uribe get his much-denied reelection. |
Bluebird
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... make the milk 2% and chocolate chip on the cookies please...thanks LOL and you are the only one doing any "ranting". I just can't take it seriously when you try to hold up this group of unsavory characters as choir boys or boy scouts................ |
Santos
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... Blue bird i challenge anyone to provide A SINGLE PHOTO of a farc member with a simple IPOD, or any other luxury which they can use their "billions of of shore account money".... i challenge you and anyone else to please convince me... or are they like the myths of pirates who left their gold dug on little islands int he caribbean? Put yourself in the place of a "FARC TERRORIST" for a second, you hold a positive balance (hard enoughf ro any american through this economic crisis) in an off shore account, what can you possibly do with the billions? this isnt chump change, furthermore last i checked the recent death of the guerrilla high commands have all ended in the same way, un marked graves, no glory at all blue bird... no monuments, no fights for family wills.... |
Bluebird
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... @santos......... I understand what you are saying. I am sure the average FARC has very little in the way of creature comforts available to them.......including IPODs but that does not mean that I (or any one else) should feel sorry for them. How can I when they regularly slaughter innocents, when they set busses on fire with innocent men, women, and children on board, when they place landmines all through the countryside and innocent people are regularly blown to bits or have their legs blown off. They continue to commit genocide and countless atrocities against their own people. If they end up in unmarked graves with no glory then that is as it should be......and if they don't even have an IPOD to listen to??.........well that is just one more small tragedy they will have to endure. No sir......I cannot feel sympathy for the FARC. |
Bluebird
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... @ andrew.....I have reread your post above two or three times and what really bothers me most is that you refer to the failed airline bombing attempt as the "Christmas Day flop". By using this phrase to describe the incident you seem to infer a personal disappointment that the attempt failed. I would not like to make an assumption like this without asking you directly..........was the "Christmas Day flop" (to use your words) personally disappointing to you? This is very troubling to me and I hope I have misunderstood what you were trying to say. |
Kalcu
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... Bluebird you are funny, like you have to say 'innocent' when there are no such things. Fact is kids grow up and people have attitudes that do not resolve conflict, it's a issue with population bottle necking. Rebels are poor, it costs a lot to just arm people and have medical supplies, but cocaine doesn't have to be sold it can be traded. Trade works better in these primitive societies than cash, you can have an appeal with things that are more rare or a better deal for both parties. Cocaine doesn't bring in much money in Colombia, unless you are exporting it! It seems that Santos is a smart guy, I think drugs should be legalized. Most of the problems come from people that already have thought disorders, the sane people in this world go crazy. Look at it as it is and never reported on much, but Uribe has had at least business asset that was busted for trying to import mass quantities of Potassium Permanganate. That is the oxidizer for highly pure cocaine extraction, it oxidizes the not so desirable coca alkaloids for removal. |
Kalcu
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... Farc and other armed groups provide security, it takes a big wig like Uribe or anyone with solid connections within America to import. It appears that being a Harvard Graduate probably went well with the cocaine yuppies! FARC probably uses accounts that are with other groups, probably even Russian accounts. You didn't see the KGB going after CIA accounts, it seems it's not a good situation to play that hard of a hard ball. Heck, the CIA moves more cocaine than FARC does and they know that the cocaine they purchase CHEAPLY for high profit exportation....was grown and extracted under security probably from FARC or quasi FARC members, really how could you tell just how into or sorta kinda maybe one of those connections. People want such solid lines and that isn't reality but in area's there are! Basically the CIA doesn't see FARC As a big deal, some say they groomed FARC or the ELN or hoocus pocus brigade to be a huge problem...it seems they are writing more and more about these 'dangerous scum bag devils', but their kidnapping victims from America didn't hate them. I wish Colombia and the world the best, but Governments don't do a good job about setting examples and standards of conduct. So as long as there are kids being born, there are rebels. |
santos
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... blue bird nothing is about sympathy, its about actual fact, i have no sentimental feelings, real history is not written with gushy feelings about this group or another, if the american revolution would have failed our "founding fathers" would have been treated as what they were "traitors" and "terrorist" to the british crown, they not only burned bridges, sunk merchant boats, engaged in piracy, and in bank theft, but they also "murdered civilians" aligned to the british crown. a historical perspective is not based on what we "feel", it has everything to do with the reality of the country, the farc just like any other guerrilla movement in the history of humanity has a "purpose" and exist because of certain factors in society. if they win, just like when the founding fathers won they wont be treated as terrorist, they'll build monuments just as we did here in washington dc... |
Bluebird
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... Kalcu...thank you for finally stating your position that there is no such thing as "innocents"......according to you even children are targets. You sir are a despicable excuse for a human being. All CR readers can now know you for what you are. |
Bluebird
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... @Santos.....you are correct that a few parallels can be drawn between the american revolution and what is happening in Colombia. But there are also some BIG differences as well. Never was the wholesale slaughter of people loyal to the crown adopted as a matter of policy by the founding fathers. Another HUGE difference is that they were revolting against rule by another country. They were seeking independence from England. If I am nor mistaken, Colombia's independence from Spain was acheived many years ago. The FARC, by contrast, are waging war not only on a government that was elected by the people of Colombia, but also waging war on the people of Colombia . This is a very different thing than what happened here in the states. |
Santos
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... to bluebird: colombia is no more a country then any of the other "banana republics". to call colombia a sovereign state is an utter lie and travesty. a sovereign state has no need for 7 new foreign military bases, a sovereign state does not sell off its natural resources, expropriates people's lands, and sells them to the largest multi-national bidder. Alot of Colombian legislature is actually written first in the states then brought to the colombian congress, such was the case of "plan Colombia" which arrived to colombia still in its English state. A government elected "by the people", last elections in colombia saw a participation of 22% of the electorate, not much for "the people", many of which were forced into voting boothes by paramilitary forces. Civil wars are nothing new... nearly every developed country in the world had one, including the U.S 1860 civil war (also not a pretty war) |
Santos
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... In regards to Colombia's independence from spain, Simon Bolivar the Washington of Latin America engaged in a military concept called "TOTAL WAR", look it up. The guerrilla groups in Colombia have in numerous occations opted for the political approach to the conflict. I would recommend reading on the history of colombian politics in the mid80's. Such experiments like the political party "union patrotica" were drown in a blood bath, over 5,000 party members were killed. Imagine killing 5,000 members of the democratic or republican party in the U.S... what would that mean to a political reality of a country???? Alot more needs to be studied before we go on here stating the FARC are good, or the FARC are bad... this is beyond our concept of "morals" in the political haven of the U.S. |
Bluebird
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... Santos.... you are wrong when you say that a lot more needs to be studied before stating that the FARC are good or bad. There are a thousand ways to try to justify the immoral, uncivilized behaviour, barbaric behaviour that they regularly exhibit but in the end it is still barbaric behaviour no matter how you try to spin it. |
Santos
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... bluebird... theres is no spins, just facts. spinning is what you try to place when you make statements without any analysis. what constitutes civilized behavior is a cultural expression of a specific civilization and epoch. during the roman empire killing christians in the coleseum was an accepted "moral behavior". Real arguments are not based on morality, because in the end history won't be written in this format. We dont categorize the founding fathers a terrorist nor vandals. The historical precedent of their acts are analyzed from the reality which is "they founding the United States of America". Their methods are no longer questioned. Barbarism is a word that can also describe the drug culture in the united states, or the sexual revolution here in the states, or the invasion and destruction of countries in the middle east... but these are all meaningless opinions, and are worth less then the weight of air. When makign opinions that will stand the course of time, try to make something worth repeating in the future. Try not to sound like a second grader "i like apples because they're red"..... |
Bluebird
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... once again you are completely wrong..... your "logic" is nothing more than an attempt to justify any kind of bad behaviour you choose to engage in. Sorry... but it just doen't work. |
Kalcu
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... Ha ha ha ha Bluebird, I didn't say children are targets but in a drug war they sure can be especially when it comes to kidnapping! |
Kalcu
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... Can't believe that I didn't crack this joke, but I thought the Pope blessed this alliance so it's not unholy...ha ha ha ha ha! |
Dora34Ayers
said:
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... That's cool that we can get the credit loans and this opens completely new possibilities. |
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