Pubdate: Sat, 20 Dec 2003
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2003 Tallahassee Democrat.
Contact:  http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: Matt Kelley

HASHISH LINKED TO AL-QAIDA

Seized Boat May Be First Evidence

WASHINGTON - The Navy has seized a boat carrying nearly two tons of
hashish in the Persian Gulf, U.S. officials said Friday, in what could
be some of the first hard evidence of al-Qaida links to drug smuggling.

The guided missile destroyer USS Decatur intercepted the 40-foot boat
Monday. Aboard were a dozen men, three of them thought to have
al-Qaida connections, and 3,780 pounds of hashish, the Navy said Friday.

The Decatur seized the boat near the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow part
of the Persian Gulf where it opens into the Arabian Sea.

The drugs are worth between $8 million and $10 million, the Navy
said.

Military officials would not say Friday why they thought the boat, its
cargo and some of its crew were linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist
network. The boat remained under the Decatur's control, and it had not
been determined what to do with the men on board, the Navy said.

Terrorism experts and government officials long have said they think
that al-Qaida makes money through criminal enterprises including the
drug trade. A United Nations panel reported last month, for example,
that al-Qaida had financed some of its operations through drug
trafficking.

Before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, bin Laden had been sheltered in
Afghanistan by the Taliban, which had clear links to the heroin trade
through Afghanistan's huge opium poppy crops. Smaller groups linked to
al-Qaida, such as Ansar al-Islam in Iraq and Abu Sayyaf in the
Philippines, also have been accused of involvement in the drug trade.

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at RAND, a think tank that often
does work for the Pentagon, said Monday's seizure was the first
indication that al-Qaida was smuggling hashish.

Smuggling drugs is attractive to al-Qaida because of the huge profit
margins involved, said Jimmy Gurule, a former Treasury Department
official involved in tracking terrorist financing.
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