U.S. Raids Foil Plots to Send Arms to Al Qaeda and Others

The DEA and the FBI now, more than ever, share a common enemy: terrorism. Federal agents recently thwarted two deals that included the exchange of drugs for weapons believed to be destined for Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. In the first deal, two Pakistanis and an American were in the process of exchanging heroin and hashish for four Stinger antiaircraft missiles that were allegedly to be delivered to Al Qaeda. The second involved a $25 million deal, in which cocaine and cash were to be traded for Warsaw Pact weapons (about 9,000 assault rifles with ammunition and 300,000 hand grenades). The four men responsible for this deal have ties to a Colombian rightist paramilitary organization, which the United States labels as a terrorist organization. All involved in the plots were arrested. As the world anticipates a US resolution on Iraq, terror continues to thrive and extend its sources of arms. With drug money financing terrorism, intelligence agencies throughout the world may increase national security by looking for links between terror and drugs. – YaleGlobal