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Caribbean-Latin America

3 Lebanese Suspects Extradited from Paraguay to U.S.

2011-02-26

[An Nahar] Paraguay extradited three Lebanese men to the United States on Thursday -- two on drug trafficking charges and another who faces trial in Philadelphia for allegedly selling stolen cell phones and used cars to raise funds for Hizbullah. Paraguayan anti-drug trafficking agent Maria Mercedes Castineira told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the three men were put on a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration plane after being held for months in Paraguayan jails. Nemir Ali Zhayter and Amer Zoher El Hossni were captured Aug. 6, 2008, in Ciudad del Este on Paraguay's "Triple Frontier" with Brazil and Argentina. Both were allegedly involved in trafficking cocaine to the U.S., Castineira said. Moussa Ali Hamdan was nabbed last June 16 in the same Paraguayan city shortly after arriving from New York. Prosecutors in Philadelphia said Hamdan, a dual U.S.-Lebanese national, bought what he thought where stolen goods from a U.S. government informant. Hamdan allegedly exported more than 1,700 cell phones, 400 Sony PlayStation 2 systems and three used cars after the informant told him the money as well as counterfeit currency would go to finance Hizbullah. He faces 25 years if convicted of 31 charges filed in November 2009 in Philadelphia. Hamdan said after his arrest that he's been falsely accused, and that if he weren't Mohammedan he would not have been charged.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Paraguay to Extradite Hizbullah-Affiliated 'Terrorist' to US

2011-01-06

[An Nahar] An appeals court in Paraguay ruled in favor of extraditing a Lebanese man wanted in the United States on charges linked to raising funds for Hizbullah. Moussa Ali Hamdan, 38, was jugged in mid-June 2010 in a hotel in Ciudad del Este, the hub of the busy and often lawless tri-border area between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The free-trade zone city of Ciudad del Este is home a large foreign-born population, including some 30,000 Arabs, mostly of Lebanese origin. Foreign intelligence officials claim that Ciudad del Este harbors Islamist terrorist sleeper cells, an allegation the three countries deny. In November 2009, a U.S. district court in the state of Pennsylvania indicted Hamdan on several charges related to money laundering, using counterfeit currency, passport forgery, and exporting stolen laptops, cell phones and cars. The proceeds were to benefit Hizbullah, which Washington considers a terrorist group, according to the U.S. indictment. Hamdan, who claims to have moved to Paraguay to work at an electronics store with a friend, told Paraguayan news hounds that Washington wants him "because I'm a Mohammedan." They're rare enough that we gotta go to Paraguay to get some to oppress. "If I had been a Christian, I would not have been jugged," he said. Had you been a Christian, sir, you would not have been servicing Hizb'allah, and so would not have caught American eyes looking for terrorists. For want of a nail, and all that. Tuesday's ruling confirms a lower court ruling in August authorizing the extradition.

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Home Front: WoT

Road to terrorism arrests began at Deptford Mall

2010-12-02

Moussa Ali Hamdan drove a flashy SUV into the Deptford Mall parking lot for the lunchtime meeting. Authorities say that he was there to buy stolen goods, and that he told the seller he wanted bulk quantities of prepaid cell phones, laptops, Sony PlayStations -- even cars. Anything that was available. Hamdan didn't know it, but he was negotiating with an FBI informant on that winter day in 2007. Authorities could have jugged him then, but they suspected Hamdan was a central figure in a terrorist cell in the United States. The investigation eventually would include dozens of national-security advisers from many federal agencies and stretch from Hamdan's West Collingswood apartment and Cinnaminson workplace to the crowded streets of Beirut, Leb. President B.O. and then-Gov. Jon S. Corzine were briefed on the case. Late last year, the investigation led to the indictment of 26 alleged Hezbullies operatives and sympathizers. Sixteen people were jugged, including a Hezbullies weapons-procurement officer. Hamdan beat feet to his native Leb. Two defendants are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. "These cases show the breadth of criminal activity engaged by those who oppose us," U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy said in a statement. A review of Hamdan's activity in New Jersey, nearly a hundred pages of indictments, and conversations with intelligence-community sources with knowledge of the investigation offer a detailed look into what authorities say were the alleged terrorist organization's U.S. fund-raising and weapons-buying operations. "The indictments are very significant," said Matthew Levitt, a terrorism expert at the Washington Institute. "Hezbullies has long had financial-support networks inside the U.S., but seeing it laid out in the details of this indictment is nonetheless startling." The investigation began with a 911 call. In April 2006, Philadelphia police received a call from the 1300 block of Magee Avenue in the Northeast. A group of men who appeared to be Middle Eastern were loading carpet into white work vans with Michigan tags. It was late, and the men were acting suspiciously, the caller said. Members of the Philadelphia Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by New Jersey State Police Detective Frederick Fife, conducted surveillance and database checks on the men and determined that they had ties to Hezbullies.

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Home Front: WoT

Terrorist Investigation (SoJersey-Philly area)

2010-01-25

Moussa Ali Hamdan drove a flashy SUV into the Deptford Mall parking lot for the lunchtime meeting. Authorities say that he was there to buy stolen goods, and that he told the seller he wanted bulk quantities of prepaid cell phones, laptops, Sony PlayStations - even cars. Anything that was available. Hamdan didn't know it, but he was negotiating with an FBI informant on that winter day in 2007. Authorities could have arrested him then, but they suspected Hamdan was a central figure in a terrorist cell in the United States. The investigation eventually would include dozens of national-security advisers from many federal agencies and stretch from Hamdan's West Collingswood apartment and Cinnaminson workplace to the crowded streets of Beirut, Lebanon. President Obama and then-Gov. Jon S. Corzine were briefed on the case. Late last year, the investigation led to the indictment of 26 alleged Hezbollah operatives and sympathizers. Sixteen people were arrested, including a Hezbollah weapons-procurement officer. Hamdan escaped to his native Lebanon. Two defendants are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. "These cases show the breadth of criminal activity engaged by those who oppose us," U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy said in a statement. A review of Hamdan's activity in New Jersey, nearly a hundred pages of indictments, and conversations with intelligence-community sources with knowledge of the investigation offer a detailed look into what authorities say were the alleged terrorist organization's U.S. fund-raising and weapons-buying operations. "The indictments are very significant," said Matthew Levitt, a terrorism expert at the Washington Institute. "Hezbollah has long had financial-support networks inside the U.S., but seeing it laid out in the details of this indictment is nonetheless startling." The investigation began with a 911 call. In April 2006, Philadelphia police received a call from the 1300 block of Magee Avenue in the Northeast. A group of men who appeared to be Middle Eastern were loading carpet into white work vans with Michigan tags. It was late, and the men were acting suspiciously, the caller said.

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Home Front: WoT

Washington accuses 10 in Hezbollah arms ring

2009-11-26

[Al Arabiya Latest] Prosecutors in the United States on Wednesday accused 10 people of having supported the Shiite armed group Hezbollah with weapons, fake passports, counterfeit money, stolen laptops and game consoles. Four of the men were indicted on Tuesday -- three from Lebanon and a fourth, Moussa Ali Hamdan, from New York -- on charges of "conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah." They faced 15 to 30 years in prison. Another six were charged with related crimes. It was the second set of such charges to be brought in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in as many days. According to the indictment, Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani Harb of Beirut sought to export to the Port of Latakia in Syria about 1,200 Colt M-4 machine guns in June at a price of some $1,800 a piece with the help of a contact who was in fact an undercover federal agent. With the help of Hamdan and fellow Lebanese Hassan Antar Karaki, Harb is also accused of having sought to support Hezbollah using proceeds from the sale of fraudulent passports, stolen money and about $9,200 dollars in counterfeit U.S. currency hidden inside a photo album. Harb told the undercover agent that the genuine stolen money came from a string of robberies led by Hezbollah supporters and later smuggled into Lebanon to raise funds for the group. He also claimed that "Iran manufactured high-quality counterfeit U.S. currency for the benefit of Hezbollah," the indictment said. Hamdan and three others -- two Americans and a Venezuelan -- were charged with having spearheaded the trafficking of over 1,500 cell phones, nearly 150 laptop computers, 400 Sony PlayStation 2 systems and three cars starting around late 2007. The goods -- which the undercover agent presented as stolen and sold to the defendants for a total of over $153,000 in New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- were transported to New Jersey, New York, Benin, Lebanon and Margarita Island, Venezuela. Hamdan, Hamza al-Najjar and Alaa Allia Ahmed Mohammed of Brooklyn, New York, Moustafa Habib Kassem of Staten Island, New York, Maodo Kane of the Bronx, New York and Michael Katz of Plainsboro, New Jersey were charged with having purchased several thousand dollars worth of purportedly counterfeit goods. Among the merchandise were over 5,500 pairs of Nike shoes and 334 Mitchell & Ness sports jerseys. "Today, through the well-coordinated effort of all involved agencies, a blow has been struck to Hezbollah's efforts to fund its terrorism activities," said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Philadelphia division. Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris noted that "the allegations contained in this complaint demonstrate how terrorist organizations rely on a variety of underlying criminal activities to fund and arm themselves." Five Lebanese nationals were charged on Monday for engaging in similar trafficking activities, including dual Slovakia and Lebanon resident Dani Nemr Tarraf, who allegedly sought to ship anti-aircraft Stinger missiles and about 10,000 Colt-M4 machine guns to Syria and other ports.

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