Somali Khatt Smugglers Bring Underage Girls to Makhalis in Kenya for the Sex Trade

At least 50 girls, aged between ten and 15, are sold every week to tour operators and tourist hotels at Sh60,000 each as sex workers and to star in pornographic movies, a report claims. The report released on Tuesday by the International Peace Institute (IPI) says that the girls are trafficked or smuggled to Nairobi from North Eastern Province and Somalia.

The estimation of the number of girls smuggled per week comes from a non-governmental organisation Womankind Kenya, which is based in Garissa.

• "Vehicles that transport miraa  [also called khat, a narcotic weed chewed widely in Somalia] from Kenya to Somalia return loaded with young girls and women, who end up in brothels in Nairobi or who are shipped to Mombasa and destinations outside Kenya," the report says.
• The report titled Termites at Work: Transitional Organised Crime and State Erosion in Kenya was compiled by IPI executive director Mr Peter Gastrow.
• The report says the girls are taken to massage parlours or beauty shops, where contacts from tour operators and hotels come to select the ones they wish to take as sex workers.
• "Tour operators and hotel workers also operate as traffickers and brokers," the report alleges.
• The report says the trafficked children are then taken to scheduled villas in Mombasa where sex tourism thrives.

"The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has estimated that about 10,000 people are trafficked into Coast Province each year," the report says.

Mombasa is a destination for people trafficked from as far as Uganda, Somalia, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

In Kenya, those who control the networks involved in trafficking of humans or smuggling migrants use supermarkets, foreign exchange bureaus and electronic shops as cover for the human trafficking business, the report says.

• The report claims that most traffickers are Somalis and those who head and control the network are known as makhalis.

Code of silence

• In Nairobi and Garissa, the report claims that some traffickers operate as travel agents for airlines. "They pay taxes for their legitimate businesses to ensure that they do not attract queries from Government authorities," the report says.
• The report claims that a code of silence exists among the makhalis and their agents and contacts. "Only other agents, brokers, corrupt senior police officers, and their lawyers know what they do behind their veneer of law abiding upright citizen," the report claims.
• There are at least five to ten makhalis in northern Kenya and in Eastleigh in Nairobi.

They each control a loosely structured network, which they run independently from each other.
By Athman Amran

The Rest @ Standard Media (Kenya)

West Africans Ask the UN For Help to Stop Piracy and Trafficking

West Africans Call For UN Involvement against Piracy

Tuesday, 27 September 2011, 12:16 pm
Press Release: United Nations
West African Officials Call For Greater UN Involvement in Fight against Piracy

New York, Sep 26 2011 - Top West African officials are calling for greater United Nations and international support to prevent the region’s coasts from becoming a haven for pirates and to fight growing drug and arms trafficking.

“The evils of drug trafficking, piracy, trafficking of illicit goods and arms trafficking have reared their ugly heads across the sub-region,” Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy told the General Assembly at the start of the fifth day of its annual general debate. “The nature and extent of these crimes call for swift international action to nip them in the bud before it is too late.

“As these crimes feed on each other and sow the seeds of terror, economic sabotage and the collapse of social order, we must pool our resources together in the areas of detection, surveillance, law enforcement and prosecution in order to deny the culprits safe havens.

“In order to do this, we must come together and agree on a framework for cooperation with the support of the international community. We look forward to greater United Nations engagement with regional and subregional leaders and organizations in stamping out these menaces.”

Togolese Prime Minister Gilbert Fossoun-Houngbo referred to recent acts of piracy off the coasts of Togo and Benin. “At a time when the West African region is witnessing a resurgence of violence due to drugs and terrorism, our coasts cannot be allowed to be taken hostage by pirates,” he told the Assembly on Saturday, calling for closer cooperation between all countries to confront the new phenomenon.

“The crises and conflicts, the threats to international peace and security, such as piracy, cyber-crime and drug trafficking, which undermine efforts to consolidate peace in the world, must impel the international community to rethink the UN role in the context of security and economic and social development.”

At the end of last month the Security Council voiced concern over increasing piracy, armed robbery and reported hostage-taking in the Gulf of Guinea, saying the crimes were having an adverse impact on security, trade and other economic activities in the sub-region.

Mr. Fossoun-Houngbo also called for urgent UN and international steps to confront the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa where tens of thousands of people have already starved to death and 13.3 million people are threatened.

Both officials called for reform of the 15-member Security Council, expanding it and making it more representative of the regions of the world and correct what Mr. Fossoun-Houngbo called “flagrant and unacceptable injustices,” and Ms. Njie-Saidy termed “the glaring under-representation of Africa.”

“Africa needs to be adequately and properly represented and we will not give up on what is a very legitimate demand. What is even more appalling is that negotiations are progressing at snail’s pace,” she said, stressing that reform is long overdue, “and the lack of it is undermining the credibility of the organ and the legitimacy of its decisions.”

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

Ethiopia to South Africa Human Trafficking RIng

Most Ethipians in this trafficking network were looking for work, but Some Ogaden Somali's may become part of the South African Islamist network unpon arrival. Some will likely have trained with al Shabaab, and may become militant trainers in planned future South African Islamist militias. This is how Boko Haram in Nigera, the recent UN bombers , were trained by AQIM.

Shimron Issacahr
*************************
EAC urged to fight human trafficking
The man, who was found with the passengers in his lorry by Ethiopian police, is believed to be the mastermind of a human trafficking ring operating between the two countries. He operates between Isiolo and Moyale.

Eastern police boss Marcus Ochola said he was yet to be briefed on the arrests. He, however, said the Ethiopian authorities had been very cooperative in the war against human trafficking.

“They have a lot of information and for the last two months they have assisted us a lot in arresting the perpetrators,” said Mr Ochola.

The Counter Trafficking in Persons Act, 2010, spells out stiff penalties for such offences. Conviction carries a 30-year-jail term or a Sh30 million fine.

In Mombasa, police arrested 19 Ethiopians believed to be on their way to South Africa via Nairobi. The group was planning to enter Tanzania through panya routes, it was said.

Working on a tip-off, the police raided a bus booking office at Mwembe Tayari where the Ethiopians were waiting to board a morning vehicle for Nairobi.



The shocked foreigners were ordered to remove their luggage from the bus and accompany the officers to Central Police Station where they were locked up.

Speaking at the station, local police boss Kipkemoi Rop expressed concern over the number of Ethiopians passing through the country.

“Every week, we are arresting roughly between eight to 10 Ethiopians on transit and this is worrying,” he said adding they were liaising with their counterparts in Kilifi and Lamu to know the point of entry.

Meanwhile, sixty (60) street families arrested on Saturday night in Mombasa town will on Monday appear in court to answer different charges.

Police raided street families on Digo, Moi, Nyerere and Haile Sellassie roads.

Mr Rop said the police would work with the Mombasa Municipal Council to rid the town of street families.

At the same time, police recovered two firearms and arrested two suspects in Eastleigh, Nairobi, on Saturday morning.

Buruburu police boss Hassan Barua said police got information from the public that some people were hiding firearms in their house.

The Rest @ The Nation (Kenya)

Al Qaeda in North Africa After Bin Laden

Posted at Vimeo 2 MOnth ago.

TERRORISM IN NORTH AFRICA AFTER BIN LADEN: CHALLENGES FOR US POLICY from ASMEA on Vimeo.

Transnational Terrorist and Criminal Networks Now Put Nigerian National Security at Risk

BY OKEY NDIRIBE & CHRIS OCHAYI
ABUJA—Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Abdulrahman Dambazzau, has identified transnational criminals and global terrorist networks, which have infiltrated West African, as a serious threat to the nation’s security.

Delivering the keynote address at the National Stakeholders Summit on Security and Public Awareness, Dambazzau said the region had become a major reference point for global criminal activities, describing Nigeria as a major transit for drugs and arms trafficking.

Dambazzau said trafficking in small arms and light weapons was the major cause of global proliferation of arms, adding that when the arms found their way into the country, they were used for various acts of violence, such as armed robbery and ethno-religious conflicts.

He added: “In addition to the possibility of importation of terrorism through known global terror networks, transnational organised crimes, involving arms, drugs, human trafficking, money laundering, cyber-crimes , advance fee fraud and illegal bunkering are, indeed, posing serious security threats to Nigeria.”

He further stated that corruption had become a major threat to the nation’s security and stability.
Said he: “Much relevant to our gathering here, is the fact that corruption endangers the stability and security of our society when it undermines the institutions and values of democracy.

“Overall, corruption is both a cause and consequence of poverty and under-development and it increases the likelihood of other crimes.”

Declaring the summit open, President Goodluck Jonathan noted that the nation had been confronted with some major security challenges in recent times.

Enumerating such challenges as intra and inter party conflicts, socio-economic agitations, ethno-religious crisis, civil and organised rebellion, and outright criminality, the President reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to secure the life and property of the citizenry.

He said: “Let me reiterate that this administration remains irrevocably committed to its constitutional role of securing the lives and property of all Nigerians.

“Government is ready to do whatever needs to be done, within the scope of the rule of law, to bring about lasting peace, while also laying more emphasis on an intelligence based approach to meeting our national security challenges.

“Similarly, this administration is committed to the fulfilment of its promises of growing the economy through job creation for our teeming youths, so that they can be meaningfully engaged.”

President Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, reminded Nigerians that “security is a shared responsibility which underscores the importance of identifying and reporting suspicious activities.”

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be vigilant and report suspicious characters to security agencies, adding that “to facilitate this, the office of the National Security Adviser is working with the Ministry of Communication to make telephone service operators provide toll free emergency lines that are going to be very easy to remember by the public.”

The President challenged participants to come up with simple and effective strategies for raising public awareness on indicators of security threats and to emphasise the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

In his own remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad II, said the presence of high ranking traditional rulers from across the country indicated the concern and commitment of traditional institutions to the peace and security of Nigeria.

He thanked the Federal Government for setting up the committee.

The Sultan expressed concern over the fate of report that would emanate from the summit and said, “I pray that at the end of this summit, the recommendations that would be put forward and sent to the government will not be thrown into the dust bin as so many others before this kind of summit.”

In his goodwill message, the Asagba of Asaba, Professor Chike Edozie observed that most nations in the world have gone through conflicts and wars.

“ People leave their nationalities and religion to come together on their own and wish to be together and remain as a country. We need to have done more to bring the people together so that we all merge our various traditional cultures and religions into becoming one nation” he said.

He continued: “We are happy that this has now has been recognised and we are here today to begin that journey that will lead to Nigeria becoming one nation, one people out of this diversity.”

Most speakers at the occasion condemned the activities of Boko Haram and other armed groups that have unleashed mayhem on different parts of the country.

• Others speakers at the summit who included,
• Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar Ibn Umar;
• Tor-Tiv, Chief Alfred Torkula;

• Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe;
• the representative of Oni of Ife, Oba Aderemi Adeniyi-Adedapo, Minister of Defence, Mohammed Haliru Bello and Minister of Information Labaran Maku.
• They all acknowledged that this is trying period for the nation due to its challenging security situation.

Other dignitaries who graced the occasion were the President of Nigerian Guild of Editors and General Manager/Editor-in-Chief of Vanguard Newspaper, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye; spokesperson of the State Security Services, SSS, Marilyn Ogar;

Alhaji Idi Farouk,

former Commissioner of Police, FCT, Command, Mr. Lawrence Alobi; Deputy Governor of Kogi State,

The Rest @ Vanguard

Al Qaeda Moves Deeper into Africa

No new news... Al Qaeda is increasingly moving their efforts South and West to their outposts in the Sahel (AQIM) Yemen and Somalia....

-Shimron


Terrorism experts say the world has every reason to be concerned about terrorism in 2011 and beyond. They say al-Qaida may be slowly dying in Afghanistan, but its tentacles around the world live on in very remote areas.

They also say frustration among the poor in the Middle East and Africa could lead to new ethnic and political conflicts. The turmoil, they say, could embolden al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb popularly known as AQIM in that region. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the Sahel region.

Ronald Noble, secretary-general of the police organization Interpol, has said those portions of Africa along with Somalia may become the next Afghanistan for al-Qaida.

Former CIA official and counter-terrorism expert Charles Allen says the recent turmoil in the Sahara and Sahel could further embolden al-Qaida, because it could see the unrest as a result of its own campaign.

"They have appealed continuously, whether it is in Yemen or in North Africa, that there are impoverished communities and then there are wealthy oligarchs who control the masses. This is a long standard ideological campaign that has been relatively effective," he said.He says al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM, along with its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, has been using this region as a breeding ground for its activities."It functions as an umbrella organization for a disparate collection of Sunni Muslim terrorist elements determined to attack what they see as apostate regimes in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Morocco.

The bulk of AQIM forces are located in southern Algeria, northern Mali and Mauritania," he said.Morocco’s ambassador to Washington, Aziz Mekouar is more concerned about the Sahara region in particular because it is now being used by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs to Europe. He says AQIM is trying to take advantage of the situation.

• "We see these Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers using West Africa and the Sahara region to covey drugs to the European markets. That is very dangerous.
• You will see in the future a combination of al-Qaida, drug traffickers, and human traffickers," he said.
• He says the countries of the region should come together to stop this activity and prevent al-Qaida from exploiting the situation.
• Last year, Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger set up a joint headquarters in southern Algeria to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts.
• The four countries' army chiefs met to establish a joint strategy against al-Qaida.

Allen says the focus in 2011 should be to make it more difficult for the al-Qaida leaders to recruit the unemployed and frustrated youth. That, he says, will require cooperation on a global scale to push for political and social reforms and poverty reduction. It will also require, he says, a global effort to educate the younger generation what he calls the real Islam that he says teaches that killing one person means killing all of humanity.

the Rest @ VOA

Last Post for a While

I have been writing this blog since 2006. It began when I was doing business intelligence work, gathering information about one of the technical industries in some East Africa Countries. What I came across was information leading to a conclusion that I still hold, and that that al Qaeda has a clear and specific strategy targeting Africa.

It was not new. Bill Moyers sums it up as well as anyone:

"When the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in early 1989, bin Laden and Azzam decided that their new organization should not dissolve. They established what they called a base (al Qaeda) as a potential general headquarters for future jihad. However, bin Laden, now the clear emir of al Qaeda, and Azzam differed on where the organization's future objectives should lie. Azzam favored continued fighting in Afghanistan until there was a true Islamist government, while bin Laden wanted to prepare al Qaeda to fight anywhere in the world. When Azzam was killed in 1989, bin Laden assumed full charge of al Qaeda. " - Moyers Journal

What I am saying is that their was, and is, a specific Islamist plan for Africa, with the al Qaeda as the tip of the spear.

In 2006 no one was really looking at Africa and the Islamist Agenda, so I began to track the movement of key people and groups working this agenda. Frankly I was surprised at the transparency and sophistication of the plan, how open they were about their agenda, and how ignored by the Western World they were. Their moneymaking activities, their large business and in some cases Royal funding supporters were very obvious.

It is clear now that their are many, many western eyes on Africa and the Islamist agenda, both in Africa and around the world, and so I am no longer needed. I want to give one, mostly final, summary for the analysts out there.

First, I think the Long War is almost half over. The West currently has the upper hand as can be seen in Pakistan, but it will eventually move to Africa in less than a year.

Somalia is still in a stalemate. Somaliland will soon be recognized, and the corrupt TFG group will be abandoned, since they seem to be inherently incapable of caring for their own people in a peaceful without tribal lenses. This does not mean that war will stop in Somalia. The Middle East will continue to fund psalmist groups, who will tray and export the Islamist war into Ethiopia and Kenya. The West will continue to find ways to fight them.

The next place for the war to spring up will be in South Sudan, which will vote to secede in less than a year, and is preparing for the inevitable attack from the North when this happens. Both sides are even now arming for this war. This event will be the fulcrum that shifts the focus of the war from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq into Africa.


West Africa's local wars (Morroco, Algeria, Mauritania, etc) will continue to fight, and they will continue to take money from the al qaeda or whoever else will fund them. . AQIM's network of recruiters can be hunted down and stopped. However, the purchase (some call it recruitment) of suicide bomber children from poor west african families, will be attempted again.

The Islamist Agenda will ultimately fail in Africa, but not because of any Western power, but because African's will never fully accept the Salafiyya Dawa. The Sufi's will never submit, the Christians will continue to grow, since it's aims are clearly peacfull, but the Sunni missionary work, which sends islamist agents in to establish relationships with local Muslim leaders, are even now carefully watched by every African country's intelligence service.

US ( AFRICOM) UK, French and Russian agendas are already in play, but China will try their hand at mediation, since the buy the Majority of Sudan's oil exports.

China: the Great Asian Father

China 's investment in Africa has grown exponentially in the last four years. They are spending lots of money, but they are very new and still significantly imperialistic in their approach. They are simply buying as many raw materials as they can from Africa. They are soon to discover that Africans expect more than money for their resources, they see them as the new "White Father"

Human and Weapon's trafficking will continue until Africa, Unless Africa herself comes to believe she can stop it. Local wars, currently the Congo will continue to spring up. The UN now has more troops in Africa than they ever had, and I see no end in site.


Dough Farah, Creeping Sharia, the Long War Journal, Global Security,keep up the good work, I will keep reading your stuff. Also thanks to the brave journalists in Somalia who keep writing , and keep paying the price.





Shimron Issachar
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Mexican Drug Cartels indited in the US

THe US Attoreny GEneral anounced Indictments against 43 International Drug Cartel memebers, including

• Joaquin Guzman-Loera - also known as "Chapo";
• Ismael Zambada-Garcia - also known as "el Mayo";
• Arturo Beltran-Leyva.
  

Attormey General Eric Holder held a press conference, flanked by

• U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald from the Northern District of Illinois,
• U.S. Attorney Ben Campbell from the Eastern District of New York,
• Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration Michele Leonhart,
• Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Morton.
  

"Today, we are announcing, in a coordinated action, major drug-trafficking charges against 43 individuals, including cartel leaders, members and associates in two federal districts."

"Specifically, we allege that these defendants shipped multi-ton quantities of narcotics into the United States through various established smuggling corridors, and then, through a network of affiliated distributors, dispersed these drugs into cities and neighborhoods across the country.


The indictments unsealed today outline nearly two decades of criminal activity by these cartels and their leaders here in the United States, as well as in Mexico and other countries.

These cartels are not abstract organizations operating in far-off places. They are multi-billion dollar networks funneling drugs onto our streets. What invariably follows these drugs is more crime and more violence in our communities. The audacity of the cartels' operations is matched only by their sophistication and their reach.

But today, because of the dedicated work of our DEA and ICE agents, the diligence of our prosecutors in Chicago and Brooklyn, and the support of our courageous law enforcement partners in Mexico, we are able to charge leaders and members of these insidious cartels for their heinous crimes here in the United States.

Our friends and partners in Mexico are waging an historic and heroic battle with the cartels as we speak. This is not a fight that we in the United States can afford to watch from the sidelines.

The stakes are too high and the consequences too real for us. We will continue to investigate, charge, and arrest the cartel leaders and their subordinates, and we will continue systematically to dismantle and disrupt their far-reaching and dangerous operations.

I will let the two U.S. Attorneys with us today describe the charges in more detail, but suffice it to say that the criminal conduct alleged in these indictments did not take place solely in Mexico.

Rather, it played out right here in our own backyards.

For example, in Chicago we have arrested and charged individuals who allegedly worked directly with Mexican cartels to receive thousand kilo shipments of drugs, and then dispersed those drugs into the Chicago community and throughout the country.

We have learned from previous successful experiences in fighting organized crime that we must not only go after the leaders of these cartels, but also seize the money that funds their operations.

That is why in these indictments, we are seeking forfeiture of more than $5.8 billion in illegal drug proceeds.

If we can suffocate their funding sources, we can cripple their operations.
Breaking up the Mexican drug cartels and stemming the flow of drugs and illegal firearms across the Southwest border is a top priority for this Justice Department. And we have made important strides in this fight:

Earlier this year, an extensive investigation of the Sinaloa Cartel known as Project Xcellerator led to the arrest of more than 750 people in the United States and Mexico and the seizure of more than $59 million in illegal drug proceeds.

We have rolled out the President's National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy to stem the flow of illegal drugs and their illicit proceeds across the border.

We have directed much-needed resources to break up the cartels and to support border-related initiatives. Just last month, for example, I announced $8.7 million in Recovery Act funds for California communities to use in fighting crime and drug trafficking as part of our Southwest Border Strategy.

• We have formed an arms trafficking working group, led by the Criminal Division, to tackle the critically important problem of weapons flowing across the border into Mexico.
  

We have formalized agreements with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security and with the government of Mexico to increase cooperation as we carry out our fight on several fronts.

And we have brought charges against high-level Mexican leaders of the Gulf Cartel, now known as the "Company," and 15 of their top lieutenants for drug trafficking-related crimes.

All of these efforts have been in addition to the numerous investigations, prosecutions, arrests, and interdictions that our prosecutors and agents carry out across the country every day.

Today's charges demonstrate that we will not stop until these violent criminal enterprises have been eliminated. And we will continue to stand with our partners in Mexico as we carry on this vital fight.

On that note, I would like to acknowledge President Calderon and his administration for all that they continue to do in leading Mexico's fight against violent narco-traffickers.

The Rest @ PRN News Wire

Libyan African Aviation Holding Company

This is an interesting Expanding airline. Note that they have a Hub in Benin.

-Shimron

Libyan Airlines (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية الليبية‎; transliterated: al-Khutut al-Jawiyah al-Libiyah), formerly known as Libyan Arab Airlines,[1] is the national flag carrier airline of Libya, based in Tripoli.

It operates scheduled passenger and cargo services within Libya and to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Its main base is Tripoli International Airport.[2]

• The airline carried 885,000 passengers in 2007, of which 40% travelled on domestic services. It ­expects to carry 950,000 passengers this year.
• Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways, Libya's other state carrier, have recently been grouped under Libyan African Aviation Holding Company, an umbrella organisation created to oversee a co-ordinated development of Libya's air transport sector.[3]
• The airline is also a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization and the International Air Transport Association.
  

Fleet
Airbus A300B4-600R2
Airbus A320-2003(6 orders)

Operated by Nouvelair
Airbus A330-200 (4 orders)
Airbus A350 XWB (4 orders)
Bombardier CRJ 900ER 5
Fokker F27 2
Fokker F28 1

Source: Wikipeida

MS-13 Reorganizing

I don't normally comment on the Americas, but this one may have a Venezuelan Drug Connection that may be coming from the Middle East....., is this an Islamist connection?

-Shimron

Open Intelligence Review suggests that MS-13 may be in international Reorganization due to:

• Reprisals by peasants in rural Guatemala
• Black Shadow death squads in El Salvador
• Central American Prison Deaths in El Salvador,
• A recent raid on MS-13 members in San Francisco with other cities possibly coming up,

MS-13 May be developing news strategies: They have been very popular in the US with a wide range of talent from marginal to very effective, but they currently have a comparatively decentralized gang culture.

Therefore, MS-13 may be trying to reorganize in the following ways:

• Evaluate their US talent
• Merging less promising cliques into other groups with better established drug retail connections
• Move their more talented leaders into less street-visible Major drug Wholesalers.
  

This would protect their contacts in expensive and hard-to-set-up transit networks from exposure to rival DTOs.

Intelligence Questions to answer:

1. Have they may have established a new source of drugs, possibly through Venezuela, or Nicaragua which would cause them to leverage their Central American - US Transit networks?
   
2. Are they there other signs that they are trying to compete with the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels?
3. Are there signs of efforts to develop more sophisticated operational, intelligence and communication efforts
4. Which MS-13 members are traveling from which cities?
5. How has their crime pattern changed?
6. Are they establishing more sophisticated human trafficking network logistical assets?

Interim conclusion

• MS-13 is restructuring

Possible final Conclusions

• MS-13 is simply trying to consolidate and organize recent growth in their numbers in the US, and address attriion in Central America
• MS-13 is trying to move up the wholesale chain as a DTO
• MS-13 is trying to Model themselves after more sophisticated multifacited international criminal organizations kie la cosa nostra and are making changes at all levels -Federico Garcia-Ochoa

The Rest on MS-13 @ Thug Life DFW

West African Coastal Fishermen become Drug Mules

29th July, 2008

Fishermen in Africa are increasingly turning to drug and people trafficking to boost their meager incomes as fish stocks dry up.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has said:

• large boats are heading from Latin America to African islands, where drugs are transferred into many smaller fishing boats which proceed along the coast to unload their cargo in the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea-Conakry.
• Guinea Bissau has increasingly become a transit hub for organised criminal networks trafficking drugs from Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil through West Africa to Europe.
• The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has said several hundred kilograms of cocaine go through the area each week.
• The Bijagos archipelago is said to be an ideal place for landing large quantities of cocaine, due to its geographical configuration, which makes it easy for boats to travel without detection.
• Apart from the drug trade, local fishermen say while they run at a loss when fishing, they can earn up to US$720 for each person trafficked northwards toward Europe.

The Rest @ Albuquerque News
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FARS Joins MNJ in Niger Rebellion

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi
NIAMEY, April 8 (Reuters) -
Toubou tribesmen in the extreme southeast of Niger said on Monday they had killed seven soldiers, appearing to open up a new front in a growing conflict between Saharan nomads and the government.

The Toubou-led Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) said it had also captured six more soldiers in fighting over the weekend in the region of Diffa, 1,400 km (870 miles) southeast of the capital Niamey.

Niger's army confirmed the clashes but said only two people had been killed, one on each side.

FARS said last week it was joining forces with the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ),

a Tuareg-led insurgency which has killed at least 70 government soldiers since February last year in a campaign for greater economic and political autonomy.

• "The justice and good governance that we want for our country, we want for all people in Niger, be they in the south or north, the east or west," FARS President Bocar Mohamed Sougouma said on the MNJ Web site.

Numerous light-skinned ethnic Tuareg, Arab and Toubou groups in Niger's northern and eastern deserts staged a joint uprising in the 1990s to demand greater independence from the country's black African-dominated government.Some Tuareg groups accepted a 1995 peace deal but the Toubou FARS held out until 1997, when they were granted an amnesty.

Former fighters have since accused the Niger government of failing to respect those accords.

Frustrations have boiled over again as the government encourages more foreign mining companies to invest in the northern Agadez province, home to one of the world's richest reserves of uranium.

Some nomads who feel economically marginalised despite the 1990s peace deals, which were meant to better integrate them, say only the government more than 1,000 km (620 miles) away in Niamey is benefiting from the investment.

Niger's government does not recognise the MNJ, dismissing the group as common bandits and drug traffickers and has so far refused to negotiate with them.

The region around Agadez has been awash with arms since the end of the 1990s rebellion and is criss-crossed with smuggling routes carrying everything from

• fake cigarettes
• small arms
• migrants

often with the complicity of the security forces.A senior police commissioner and Interior Ministry official in Niamey, Abdoulaye Amadou, was detained this week and is being investigated for links to the rebellion, said the rebels and another senior police officer

"Information has been established that he had contacts with armed bandits, without any official authorisation, and we have to clear all that up," the officer said, asking not to be named.

The Rest @ africa.reuters.com