U.S. Charges 3 Malians in Drug Plot
Federal prosecutors on Friday charged three West Africans with plotting to transport tons of cocaine across Africa in concert with Al Qaeda, using for the first time against that group a 2006 law aimed at drug trafficking that aids terrorism.
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Document: Criminal Complaint
Federal officials say the case promises to peel back what they contend are increasing ties between drug traffickers and Al Qaeda as the terrorist group seeks to finance its operations in Africa and elsewhere. The case focused on a criminal organization in Ghana and elsewhere in West Africa that investigators believe worked with Al Qaeda, moving drugs to North Africa and on to Europe.
The case was based in some measure on the work of two informants, paid by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, who posed as representatives of theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Colombian rebel group that has taken advantage of lax enforcement and corruption to use Africa as a significant transshipment route to Europe. As part of the investigation, one of the informants approached the defendants, according to the complaint, saying he was seeking help in setting up a network to smuggle cocaine across the continent.
Over the course of the four-month investigation, federal drug agents secretly recorded and videotaped the three West African men, who said they were associated with Al Qaeda and had transported drugs and provided support to the group in the past. Federal law enforcement officials, however, said the inquiry had uncovered no independent evidence that corroborated their statements.
The three men believed that they were helping the informants set up the trafficking network to move what they thought was FARC’s cocaine from Ghana to the deserts of North Africa to Spain, the drugs’ ultimate destination, according to the complaint.
“Today’s allegations reflect the emergence of a worrisome alliance between Al Qaeda and transnational narcotics traffickers,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement announcing the arrests. “As terrorists diversify into drugs, however, they provide us with more opportunities to incapacitate them and cut off the funding for future acts of terror.”
The three defendants, all from Mali and believed to be in their 30s, were taken into custody in Ghana on Wednesday and flown to the United States on Thursday night, officials said.
Identified as Oumar Issa, Harouna Touré and Idriss Abelrahman, they were charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups: Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the FARC.
The complaint said that the men were members of what prosecutors described as “a criminal organization operating in the West African countries of Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali” and that they worked with Al Qaeda groups in the region which would provide security for the North African leg of the journey.
Mr. Touré initially cited a transportation price of $2,000 per kilogram of cocaine, as the men discussed shipments of 500 to 1,000 kilograms (about 1,100 to 2,200 pounds), the complaint said. But he later increased the price to $10,000 a kilo, citing his own costs and expenses, including paying people along the route. While the informants initially balked, they eventually agreed, according to the complaint, sworn to by Special Agent Daria Lupacchino of the D.E.A.
Describing his strong relationship with the Qaeda groups that control areas of North Africa, Mr. Touré said he had worked with Al Qaeda to transport one to two tons of hashish to Tunisia, according to the complaint. He also said his organization had worked with Al Qaeda to smuggle people into Spain, including Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indians. Mr. Touré promised that Al Qaeda would protect the shipment route.
Mr. Touré said he also supported Al Qaeda with gasoline and food and “collects taxes from many rich Malian people throughout the region on Al Qaeda’s behalf,” according to the complaint. It said he “commented that without him” Al Qaeda “could not eat.”
Michele M. Leonhard, the acting Drug Enforcement Administration administrator, said the case underscored “the direct link between dangerous terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, and international drug trafficking which fuels their violent activities.”
Mr. Touré and the two other men were led into United States District Court in Lower Manhattan late Friday afternoon for a brief appearance before Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV. Mr. Issa, a slim man, wore a long, flowing gold-colored robe, while Mr. Touré was dressed in a similar robe in royal blue. Mr. Abelrahman, who appeared older than the others, wore a dark jacket and rust-colored pants.
Two interpreters translated the proceedings into French for the three men as Jeffrey A. Brown, an assistant United States attorney, asked that they be detained. Mr. Brown, who is handling the case with Christian R. Everdell, said the defendants might flee if released and called them a danger to the community.
The men leaned close to the interpreters as the judge spoke, and, at one point, Mr. Abelrahman nodded vigorously.
Lawyers for the men agreed to postpone any bail arguments until early next year.
After the hearing, Mr. Abelrahman’s lawyer, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, cited the open judicial process and said the defendants would enjoy “the full panoply” of legal rights.
“Because we’re in court in the United States, we’re going to make sure their rights are respected,” he said.
Julia M. Gatto, who represents Mr. Issa, said he seemed like a simple man. Mr. Touré’s lawyer, James M. Roth, declined to comment.
The three men were charged under statutes passed in 2006 that gave federal drug agents the authority to pursue narcotics and terrorism crimes committed anywhere in the world if a link between a drug offense and a specified act of terrorism or terrorist group could be established.
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