The triborder terrorism nexus

Global Crime

Volumn 9, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 332-347

  Lee, Rensselaer ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Anti terrorist; Counterterrorism; Law enforcement; Money laundering; Organised crime

Indexed keywords

EID: 57649179673     PISSN: 17440572     EISSN: 17440580     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/17440570802543557     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. 'President Freezes Terrorist Assets: Remarks by the President, Secretary of the Treasury O'Neill, and Secretary of State Powell on Executive Order', EmediaMillworks Inc., 25 September 2001.
2. See, for example, Rex Hudson, Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups in the Triborder Area of South America (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2003), 18-9.
3. See for example Larry Rohter, 'South American Region Under Watch for Signs of Terrorism', The New York Times, 15 December 2002. Author interview Microsoft executive Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 21 April 2004 (Hereafter Microsoft interview).
4. Author interviews Alex Hammoud, Chairman of the US -Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce CDE, 27 May 2004
5. Sheikh Taleb Jomha Foz, 5 August 2004 and Mohammed Ismail Foz, 10 June 2004. 'Bin Laden nunca esteve en Foz, dis Ali Rejal', A Gazeta de Iguacu, 30 March 2003.
6. Author interview with Paraguayan police detective. This official is highly knowledgeable about security conditions in the Triborder region and Paraguay, but does not wish to be identified. Asunción 4 August 2004. (Hereafter police detective interview.)
7. Paraguayan police detective: Personal communication, 1 June 2004 (Hereafter police detective communication).
8. 'Paraguay Daily Reports More Evidence of Barakat's Contribution to Hezbollah', ABC Color (internet version) 28 May 2002. FBIS-NES-2002-0528.
9. Also police detective communication. Hudson, A Global Overview of Narcotics-Funded Terrorist and Other Extremist Groups (Washington, DC: Federal Research Division. Library of Congress, May 2002), 36.
10. Marc Perelman, 'US Joining Terrorism Probe Along Lawless Brazil Border', Forward, 13 December 2002, www.forward.com. Perelman and other observers suspect an Al-Qaeda tie. The FBI requested Paraguay's investigation of Francia Perfumes after the name of Ali Nizar's uncle (Mohammed Dahroug) and the telephone number of Francia's were found in a notebook belonging to Al-Qaeda principal Abu Zubaidah, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002. Mohammed Dahroug's current whereabouts are unknown.
11. Jeffrey Goldberg, 'In the Party of God', The New Yorker, 28 October 2002, 75 and onward. Hudson, A Global Interview, 34.
12. Police detective communication. The sole person interviewed by this writer claiming that Arab businessmen contributed to terrorism under direct extortion pressure was Police Commissioner Carlos Altenburger of SEPRINTE. Even Altenburger admitted that 'There is less of this now'. Author interview Carlos Altenburger. Asunción, 19 May 2004.
13. Police detective interview.
14. Ibid. and Hammoud interviews. Author interview Alejandro Camino, IFPI, Asunción, 21 May 2004. Author interview Juan Carlos Duarte, CDE Chief Prosecutor, Asunción, 25 May 2004. Author interview Joao Adelino de Sousa, managing editor A Gazeta do Iguaçu, Foz, 17 June 2004. Author interview Aurelio Aguero Farina, External Relations Department, Government of Alto Parana, CDE, 27 May 2004. Author interview Roberto Rios, IFDI, CDE, 16 June 2004.
15. 'Esquema de Flujos de Dinero de Ciudad del Este' unpublished document, 27 July 2004, 6 (hereafter 'Esquema'). This document was prepared by an investigative journalist working in the Triborder region who also wishes to remain anonymous.
16. Ibid. and 'Libanes hacia transferencias para Chino "Rey de la Pirateria"', ABC, Asunción, 18 June 2004, 38.
17. State Department, 'Country Reports on Terrorism: 2005', Chapter 5 (Washington, DC, 28 April 2006), 3, http://www.state.gov/5/crt/2005/ 64346.htm
18. 'Esquema', 2-3. Duarte interview, 'Unas 40 casas de cambio siguen operando en Ciudad del Este', ABC Digital Asunción, 3 April 2004.
19. 'Investigación sobre casas de cambio "pirata" esta congelado', ABC Digital, 12 April 2004.
20. Duarte interview.
21. This is a somewhat simplified presentation. The importer and the retailer may be separate business entities. The retailer transfers funds to the importer, usually by check; the checks are deposited in the importer's bank account in Foz; the importer exits from the money circuit at this point. The retailer, for his part, may prefer to exchange his reales in CDE. Part of the money would be kept in CDE banks to pay importers, and part would be transferred to the retailer's account in Foz.
22. Police detective interview. It is also possible to send funds abroad via Western Union. But, Western Union limits transactions to $10,000 and also asks for more information about the sender than do casas de cambio.
23. 'Esquema', 12-3. 'Lavado de dinero deja 2.5 milliones de dollars mensuales', ABC, Asunción, 6 August 2004, 40.
24. 'Esquema', 13
25. Author interview, principals of an intellectual property rights investigation company, Asunción, 20 May 2004. Hereafter IPR interview.
26. Niles Lathem, 'NYC's Terror Bank', New York Post, 3 April 2006, 4.
27. Perelman, 'Remarks' at AJC-CSIS Conference on the Middle Eastern terrorist Connections in Latin America and the Caribbean, 3 March 2004.
28. Microsoft interview.
29. IPR interview. Camino interview.
30. 'Unas 40 casas de cambio siguen operando en Ciudad del Este', ABC Digital, Asunción, 3 April 2003.
31. Police detective communication, 1 June 2004.
32. Ibid., Hudson, Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups (Washington, DC: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, July 2003), 25. According to Hudson, Abdullah is a fugitive from the area.
33. Hudson, A Global Overview of Narcotics-Funded Terrorist and Other Extremist Groups (Washington, DC: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, May 2002), 39.
34. Mariano Cesar Bartholomè and Elisa Lienderrozas, 'La triple fronteira desde la perspectiva Argentina principal foco terrorista en el cono Suramericano', Paper prepared for panel on Terrorism and Its Hemispheric Repercussions: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala In Comparative Perspective, Center for Research and Education in Defense and Security Studies, Brasilia, 7-10 August 2002 (www.geocities.com/mcbartholome/tripleFronteira.htm)
35. Hudson, Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups, 18.
36. 'Presunto terrorista que atentó contra la AMIA reside en Foz do Iguazú', Noticias, Asunción, 14 May 2004, 53. Another report claims that el Reda was 'charged in Argentina with transporting explosives used against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992'.
37. See Hudson, Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups, 29.
38. Police detective communication. Police detective interview. Author interviews with US terrorism experts Washington, DC, 29 June and 16 August 2004.
39. On the Cubas murder and the FARC see for example Tyler Bridges, 'E-emails Appear to Link a Colombian Rebel to the Kidnapping and Death of an Ex-president of Paraguay', Miami Herald, 22 February 2005, http://www.americas.org/item_18077.
40. 'Habrian pedido coimas a dueños de casas de cambio', ABC Digital Asunción, 20 April 2004.
41. Author interview. Basilisa Vasquez, 25 May 2004.
42. 'Se incautan de US $450,000 de una casa de cambio clandestina', Diario ABC Digital, 9 March 2004.
43. Hijazi's influence stretched far and wide. On the wall of his casa de cambio there hangs a certificate, signed by a police sub-commissioner of the Regional Economic Crimes Department expressing 'recognition and gratitude for your support and assistance to this institution'.
44. See 'Lebanes Accusado de Lavado con Bendicion de Policias y Fiscales', ABC Digital Asunción, 13 March 2004. Also Barreto interview.
45. 'Por evasión, tribunal condena a Barakat a seis años de carcel', ABC Digital Asunción, 17 May 2004.
46. Mariano Bartholome and Mario Baizan, Personal communication, Buenos Aires, August 2004, 1, 6-13.