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| Terror Networks |
| Seattle: Terrorists Doing Business Here |
| 2003-01-31 |
| January 31, 2003 Bear in mind while reading this the number of al-qaueda and taliban money laundering operations in the Seattle area that have been busted since 9/11. As recently as the last two months over 23 middle eastern illegal aliens have been deported from the greater seattle area, including an iraqi pilot. By Tracy Vedder A new criminal drug enterprise is sweeping into Puget Sound. It's organized, professional and deadly, and it's part of a money pipeline financing Middle East terrorists. CLALLAM COUNTY - A new criminal drug enterprise is sweeping into Puget Sound. It's organized, professional and deadly. As if that weren't frightening enough, it's part of a money pipeline financing Middle East terrorists. They are "super labs," and they leave behind a wide path of destruction. There is a new tide sweeping from the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, through a garbage-strewn lot outside Port Angeles -- a tide that carries a wave of drug users and meth cookers. It flows on to Mexican drug cartels and criminal organizations halfway around the world. The tide is money, and it fuels the terrorist armies of Hezbollah. It begins with a man, who must remain anonymous to protect his safety: "I started selling drugs when I was 15
started making drugs when I was about 20," he said. That's what the "Meth Man" told Clallam County Sheriff's detectives as he took them on a guided tour through a "super lab" -- a drug factory just outside Port Angeles. It's a piece of rural acreage littered with older trailers and campers. Inside one trailer, he described the process: "Then you put it into the cooker, which usually sets right about here." Meth Man feeds off the bottom, using, making, and selling methamphetamine. Last year, Meth Man went from small-time dealer to front man for a Mexican drug cartel. "I rode up here with a guy named Joel -- he's the main cook guy -- and showed him the place and they started cooking here." What they started is a new breed of meth lab -- a "super lab". Instead of just a few ounces, the Mexicans cook up to 25 pounds of methamphetamine at a time. Wholesale, it's worth $150,000. It's strictly business. A Clallam County Sheriff's investigator asks Meth Man, "the Mexicans that are making it, are they using it too?" Meth Man answers, "no they don't, they don't use at all." What Meth Man doesn't realize is that the organizations he's connected to don't just make drugs, they finance terrorists. "These are the pseudo-phed bottles that we got an example of from the super lab," says Captain Ron Cameron. That connection comes in a plain white bottle. "This is gold, there's no question, I mean this is the basic substance that they need," he said. Pseudo-ephedrine -- the "kick" in meth. It's illegal to buy a large quantity in the United States. "We found that these likely had been smuggled in from Canada," says Captain Cameron. The Puget sound area is well know for drug smuggling out of British Columbia, the territory is perfect for small boats running in drugs. The Drug Enforcement Agency says the trail starts in Canada, which imports 10 to 15 times more pseudo-ephedrine than that country can use. D'oh! Enter the Mexican drug cartels from bases in California. They travel to the Midwest to meet brokers, who smuggle the cold tablets across the border. Those cold tablets are then used in super labs here in Washington State. The question is: Who are these shadowy smugglers? "Iraqis, Jordanians, I believe Yemenis were also involved," says the DEA's Dave Rodriguez. The DEA traced the smugglers' millions to bank accounts in the Middle East. "They have traced that money... to terrorist organizations, principally Hezbollah," Rodriguez said. Hezbollah, also known as Islamic Jihad, burst upon the American mindset nearly 20 years ago when it blew up the Marine barracks in Lebanon. It claims to be the creator of the suicide bomber. In the past, the smuggling all happened in the Midwest. Now, with the discovery of several super labs in rural Washington, investigators believe if the terrorists aren't already smuggling pseudo-ephedrine through our state's backyard, they soon will be. "They only thing that's in the way of these illegal activities is bad weather," says Clallam County Undersheriff Fred deFrang, "that's the only thing to stop them. Otherwise, it's just a boat ride." Just a boat ride, and the cycle of drugs, money and terror is complete. Looks to me like the squeeze on their funding is having an effect, it looks like they are changing tactics and are showing signs of being starved for cash. |
| Posted by:Frank Martin |