So this should scare you. - The Orange Mane

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 04:24 PM

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...l2bFwD91P5MB00

African smuggling rings possible US terror threat
By EILEEN SULLIVAN – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The intercepted e-mail was alarmingly matter-of-fact for anyone worried about a new terror attack: "getting into U.S is no problem at all. thats what i do best."

The Ghanaian man who wrote it is in prison, accused of smuggling East Africans into the United States via Latin America for economic reasons. But the government worries such operations also could be used to sneak terrorists into the United States now that passports and other travel documents have become harder to acquire and more difficult to fake.

Intelligence officials are focusing new attention on these networks that smuggle people from Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan — known havens for terrorists, including al-Qaida — according to an internal government assessment obtained by The Associated Press.

In the 12 months that ended last Sept. 30, U.S. officials caught 372 East Africans trying to get into the country, the assessment said. This is the most from these countries since the Homeland Security Department was formed in 2003. And 159 people from the same countries have been caught trying to enter since Oct. 1 — including 138 from Eritrea, far more than any other country in the Horn of Africa.

"Any time we shut down a smuggling organization, there's always somebody there to step in the place," said Scott Hatfield, unit chief of the Human Smuggling division at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "There's always that potential that a terrorist might use an established network to come to the U.S."

Authorities shut down one major East African pipeline in 2007, according to court documents reviewed by AP.

Mohammed Kamel Ibrahim, a 26-year-old Ghana citizen living in Mexico known as "Silk the Shocker," wrote in an Oct. 24, 2006, e-mail to an associate that he would have no problem smuggling somebody into the United States.

"i will pay my immigration friend 2 days before he comes so that he can be waiting for him immediately he gets out of the flight. that way there is no questioning," Ibrahim wrote in the same e-mail.

All of this would cost $5,000. Ibrahim explained that if the client wanted to pay $2,000 less, he would have to answer questions from authorities himself and not benefit from the corrupt immigration official.

Ibrahim, the accused ringleader, and his partner, Sampson Lovelace Boateng, a 53-year-old Ghana citizen living in Belize, known as "Pastor," were arrested last year in Mexico City and at the Miami airport, respectively. Their organization accounted for most of the pipeline from East Africa to the U.S., officials say.

According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the smugglers had associates in Africa, typically corrupt officials. And they chose their routes based on which transit points employ easily bribed authorities.

Routes have included traveling from East Africa to Johannesburg, South Africa, and from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo, Brazil. East Africans also flew from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or Rome to Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela in 2007, according to the intelligence assessment. In addition, the smugglers have access to fake and real Belizean, Bolivian, Chilean, Mexican, Peruvian and South African visas.

In the Boateng and Ibrahim smuggling cases, people were stored in luggage compartments of buses for as long as 12 hours and driven to the U.S.-Mexican border. The smugglers escorted clients as they walked across the border into the U.S. between official entry ports.

Ibrahim and Boateng used international carriers DHL and Federal Express to deliver payments and travel documents.

On July 29, 2006, Ibrahim sent an e-mail to an unidentified associate: "i have a visa deal from ethiopia but it is a little bit expensive. I am currently in Belize to collect for some guys. i will get it in 3 days but it will cost 5000usd."

The $5,000 would cover the visa and corrupt officials — the full smuggling package.

East Africans are mostly coming to the U.S. to find a better life because of job opportunities that don't exist in their home countries.

One senior intelligence official said there's little evidence yet of East Africans trying to cross into the U.S. to engage in terrorist activity. The official requested anonymity because the information in the assessment is not public.

As computer chips and biometrics are required more often for travel documents, terrorists will have a more difficult time entering the U.S. and could potentially use these smuggling routes as an alternative, said Hatfield, the immigration official who heads the human smuggling division.

The number of smuggling networks has remained steady over the past 10 years, with the highest concentration in Latin America, Hatfield said. It's the price and violence that have gone up. Ten years ago, it might have cost $500 to go from Mexico to Texas, whereas now it could cost up to $2,000.

"The competition is now harder for someone to come in illegally," Hatfield said. "The goal of the smuggler is to make as much money as they can."

People with terrorist ties still try to enter the country legally or with fake documents, Hatfield said, but ICE is keeping an eye on other potential methods now that there are heightened security checks. "We're watching those closely," he said.

Terrorists will continue to use whatever means necessary to get into the United States — including smuggling networks, said Janice Kephart, a former counsel on the Sept. 11 Commission. Because it's much harder to use false documents than it once was, these smuggling networks offer a good way to get into the country anonymously, she said.

The East African countries that Homeland Security is watching all have weak enforcement in place for travel documents and have connections to organizations with anti-American causes, Kephart said.

"They do what they need to based on what their end goal is," she said.

Tombstone RJ · 07-08-2008, 04:30 PM

Eh, doesn't really bother me... It could be used for terrorism, COULD, but I doubt it will. At least, not from East Africa.

baja · 07-08-2008, 04:51 PM

So you thought the US border was tight as a drum before you read this

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tombstone RJ

Eh, doesn't really bother me... It could be used for terrorism, COULD, but I doubt it will. At least, not from East Africa.

East Africa is now one of the dangerous place on earth, and is one the top spots for recruitment of terrorism. It has also become the transition point for drug into Europe, a leading money laundering and gun trafficking centers.

ZONA · 07-08-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baja

So you thought the US border was tight as a drum before you read this

I did. I thought that was the reason we went into Iraq in the first place. To get the WMD's and "win" against the terrorists to make America safer.........................LMFAO. Republicans will buy anything that sells in regards to fear of attack from terrorists. They're gonna kill us all, oh no, we better go get them bastards before they get us..........hahhaha.

Tombstone RJ · 07-08-2008, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsid13

East Africa is now one of the dangerous place on earth, and is one the top spots for recruitment of terrorism. It has also become the transition point for drug into Europe, a leading money laundering and gun trafficking centers.

I think the article says that this smuggling is mainly for people who want to come to America to work, not blow things up.

Now, yes, could it be abused, sure can. But, for some reason, I just don't see it as a big threat right now. East Africa, in alot of ways, is being used by terrorists to train and hide. But, that doesn't necessarily mean they are convincing the locals to strap bombs to themsleves and go to America to blow things up...

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZONA

I did. I thought that was the reason we went into Iraq in the first place. To get the WMD's and "win" against the terrorists to make America safer.........................LMFAO. Republicans will buy anything that sells in regards to fear of attack from terrorists. They're gonna kill us all, oh no, we better go get them bastards before they get us..........hahhaha.

That's elsid in a nutshell.

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

That's elsid in a nutshell.

Hey **** nut, what is your problem? I always attempted to be polite you and listen your opinion even when I disagree. Yet you continue to throw **** at me. Did I not pay enough attention to you?

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsid13

Hey **** nut, what is your problem? I always attempted to be polite you and listen your opinion even when I disagree. Yet you continue to throw **** at me. Did I not pay enough attention to you?

My "problem" is that you are a neocon shill who claims to be a Democrat.

Most of your takes sound like they are coming straight from Bush's DoD.

24champ · 07-08-2008, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

My "problem" is that you are a neocon shill who claims to be a Democrat.

Most of your takes sound like they are coming straight from Bush's DoD.

Heh, anyone that disagrees with your far left viewpoints, is a Bushbot.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Heh, anyone that disagrees with your far left viewpoints, is a Bushbot.

You have no clue what you're talking about.

Elsid claims to be a Democrat - yet I have seldom seen a debate in which he hasn't supported Bush's policies.

Spider · 07-08-2008, 08:41 PM

Whew . I was so scared to open this thread ... I was expecting a picture of El Sid in the nude with a rubber ducky ......... I am relieved it is just a terrorist thing

24champ · 07-08-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

You have no clue what you're talking about.

Yeah I do, you are a far left guy. Anyone you disagree with is a Bushbot, or a member of Bushco etc.

Quote:

Elsid claims to be a Democrat - yet I have seldom seen a debate in which he hasn't supported Bush's policies.

He probably is a Democrat like Lieberman, tough on foreign policy but liberal on domestic issues. Or just maybe he is a rare breed of Democrats that have a spine.

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

You have no clue what you're talking about.

Elsid claims to be a Democrat - yet I have seldom seen a debate in which he hasn't supported Bush's policies.

That utter BS. What policy would like my position on?

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spider

Whew . I was so scared to open this thread ... I was expecting a picture of El Sid in the nude with a rubber ducky ......... I am relieved it is just a terrorist thing

I rather have rubber ducky then truck with flaming raindows

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Yeah I do, you are a far left guy.

It only seems that way to you because you don't have enough historical perspective to understand how concepts like "liberal" and "conservative" have been re-defined by the right-wing corporate media/propaganda apparatus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Anyone you disagree with is a Bushbot, or a member of Bushco etc.

They're not BushBots because they disagree with me - they're BushBots because they uncritically swallow Bush's BS, defend his policies, and/or give him a pass on his high crimes and misdemeanors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

He probably is a Democrat like Lieberman, tough on foreign policy but liberal on domestic issues.

"Probably?" Where is the evidence?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Or just maybe he is a rare breed of Democrats that have a spine.

Um, no. That would be Dennis Kucinich and others like him.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsid13

That utter BS. What policy would like my position on?

I've never seen a Bush foreign policy decision that you didn't respond to with "it's not as bad as it seems."

Seriously - do you work for the DoD?

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Yeah I do, you are a far left guy.

Then how would you explain my positions on immigration, drugs, and capital punishment?

orinjkrush · 07-08-2008, 09:01 PM

chrimanee.

our fundamental problem is how do we let the Einsteins in and keep the Obamas, oops Osamas, out?

answer me that Batman.

Spider · 07-08-2008, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsid13

I rather have rubber ducky then truck with flaming raindows

They was flames dammit ....... I feel like Cartman now

Spider · 07-08-2008, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orinjkrush

chrimanee.

our fundamental problem is how do we let the Einsteins in and keep the Obamas, oops Osamas, out?

answer me that Batman.

rather simple , the ACLU will raise hell , but we could stonewall them for a time .....First we gather up all of the rep........err Stupid people , and we keep tabs on them , first time they do something stupid .......... BAM .they ass be gone

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

I've never seen a Bush foreign policy decision that you didn't respond to with "it's not as bad as it seems."

Seriously - do you work for the DoD?

Yes I work the government, and yes I'm proud what I do for living in taking heck of lot less money to do something that serve the country and means something. And I will serve and execute the policy of the country no matter who the president of the United States is. But I guess anyone who does public service is bad guy, huh?

So what policy position would like my postion on?

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 07-08-2008, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsid13

Yes I work the government, and yes I'm proud what I do for living in taking heck of lot less money to do something that serve the country and means something. And I will serve and execute the policy of the country no matter who the president of the United States is. But I guess anyone who does public service is bad guy, huh?

So what policy position would like my postion on?

Never said "anyone who does public service is bad guy."

And the question was "do you work for the DoD?"

elsid13 · 07-08-2008, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orinjkrush

chrimanee.

our fundamental problem is how do we let the Einsteins in and keep the Obamas, oops Osamas, out?

answer me that Batman.

We pay for the Einsteins and Doctors and Engineers.

orinjkrush · 07-08-2008, 09:12 PM

doesn't matter what agency you work for...you gotta answer to a bunch of amateurs who are political appointees who don't' give a **** for America, all they care about is their frickin resume.

07-08-2008, 04:24 PM	#1
elsid13 Lost In Space Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: DC Posts: 19,080	So this should scare you. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...l2bFwD91P5MB00 African smuggling rings possible US terror threat By EILEEN SULLIVAN – 1 day ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The intercepted e-mail was alarmingly matter-of-fact for anyone worried about a new terror attack: "getting into U.S is no problem at all. thats what i do best." The Ghanaian man who wrote it is in prison, accused of smuggling East Africans into the United States via Latin America for economic reasons. But the government worries such operations also could be used to sneak terrorists into the United States now that passports and other travel documents have become harder to acquire and more difficult to fake. Intelligence officials are focusing new attention on these networks that smuggle people from Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan — known havens for terrorists, including al-Qaida — according to an internal government assessment obtained by The Associated Press. In the 12 months that ended last Sept. 30, U.S. officials caught 372 East Africans trying to get into the country, the assessment said. This is the most from these countries since the Homeland Security Department was formed in 2003. And 159 people from the same countries have been caught trying to enter since Oct. 1 — including 138 from Eritrea, far more than any other country in the Horn of Africa. "Any time we shut down a smuggling organization, there's always somebody there to step in the place," said Scott Hatfield, unit chief of the Human Smuggling division at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "There's always that potential that a terrorist might use an established network to come to the U.S." Authorities shut down one major East African pipeline in 2007, according to court documents reviewed by AP. Mohammed Kamel Ibrahim, a 26-year-old Ghana citizen living in Mexico known as "Silk the Shocker," wrote in an Oct. 24, 2006, e-mail to an associate that he would have no problem smuggling somebody into the United States. "i will pay my immigration friend 2 days before he comes so that he can be waiting for him immediately he gets out of the flight. that way there is no questioning," Ibrahim wrote in the same e-mail. All of this would cost $5,000. Ibrahim explained that if the client wanted to pay $2,000 less, he would have to answer questions from authorities himself and not benefit from the corrupt immigration official. Ibrahim, the accused ringleader, and his partner, Sampson Lovelace Boateng, a 53-year-old Ghana citizen living in Belize, known as "Pastor," were arrested last year in Mexico City and at the Miami airport, respectively. Their organization accounted for most of the pipeline from East Africa to the U.S., officials say. According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the smugglers had associates in Africa, typically corrupt officials. And they chose their routes based on which transit points employ easily bribed authorities. Routes have included traveling from East Africa to Johannesburg, South Africa, and from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo, Brazil. East Africans also flew from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or Rome to Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela in 2007, according to the intelligence assessment. In addition, the smugglers have access to fake and real Belizean, Bolivian, Chilean, Mexican, Peruvian and South African visas. In the Boateng and Ibrahim smuggling cases, people were stored in luggage compartments of buses for as long as 12 hours and driven to the U.S.-Mexican border. The smugglers escorted clients as they walked across the border into the U.S. between official entry ports. Ibrahim and Boateng used international carriers DHL and Federal Express to deliver payments and travel documents. On July 29, 2006, Ibrahim sent an e-mail to an unidentified associate: "i have a visa deal from ethiopia but it is a little bit expensive. I am currently in Belize to collect for some guys. i will get it in 3 days but it will cost 5000usd." The $5,000 would cover the visa and corrupt officials — the full smuggling package. East Africans are mostly coming to the U.S. to find a better life because of job opportunities that don't exist in their home countries. One senior intelligence official said there's little evidence yet of East Africans trying to cross into the U.S. to engage in terrorist activity. The official requested anonymity because the information in the assessment is not public. As computer chips and biometrics are required more often for travel documents, terrorists will have a more difficult time entering the U.S. and could potentially use these smuggling routes as an alternative, said Hatfield, the immigration official who heads the human smuggling division. The number of smuggling networks has remained steady over the past 10 years, with the highest concentration in Latin America, Hatfield said. It's the price and violence that have gone up. Ten years ago, it might have cost $500 to go from Mexico to Texas, whereas now it could cost up to $2,000. "The competition is now harder for someone to come in illegally," Hatfield said. "The goal of the smuggler is to make as much money as they can." People with terrorist ties still try to enter the country legally or with fake documents, Hatfield said, but ICE is keeping an eye on other potential methods now that there are heightened security checks. "We're watching those closely," he said. Terrorists will continue to use whatever means necessary to get into the United States — including smuggling networks, said Janice Kephart, a former counsel on the Sept. 11 Commission. Because it's much harder to use false documents than it once was, these smuggling networks offer a good way to get into the country anonymously, she said. The East African countries that Homeland Security is watching all have weak enforcement in place for travel documents and have connections to organizations with anti-American causes, Kephart said. "They do what they need to based on what their end goal is," she said.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

07-08-2008, 04:30 PM	#2
Tombstone RJ Ring of Famer Old School Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: In the Tetons! Posts: 19,278 Adopt-a-Bronco: WorrellWilliams	Eh, doesn't really bother me... It could be used for terrorism, COULD, but I doubt it will. At least, not from East Africa.

07-08-2008, 04:51 PM	#3
baja It is what it Is. Pay attention. Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 53,815 Adopt-a-Bronco: Buy My Book	So you thought the US border was tight as a drum before you read this

07-08-2008, 08:41 PM	#12
Spider Mr Diplomacy I survived Tebow Mania at the Mane Join Date: May 2001 Location: Elway was just an arm =MacGruder Posts: 84,438 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	Whew . I was so scared to open this thread ... I was expecting a picture of El Sid in the nude with a rubber ducky ......... I am relieved it is just a terrorist thing

07-08-2008, 09:01 PM	#19
orinjkrush ... Prospects for the future... Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DistrictOfCorruption Posts: 4,913 Adopt-a-Bronco: Ben Garland	chrimanee. our fundamental problem is how do we let the Einsteins in and keep the Obamas, oops Osamas, out? answer me that Batman.

07-08-2008, 09:12 PM	#25
orinjkrush ... Prospects for the future... Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DistrictOfCorruption Posts: 4,913 Adopt-a-Bronco: Ben Garland	doesn't matter what agency you work for...you gotta answer to a bunch of amateurs who are political appointees who don't' give a **** for America, all they care about is their frickin resume.