Thread: Fake Passport Ring With Terror Ties Busted

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01953.html

Fake Passport Ring With Terror Ties Busted

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
The Associated Press
Friday, January 27, 2006; 1:44 AM

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian has dismantled a false passport ring with links to al-Qaida and Hamas militants, the acting attorney general said Thursday after authorities led dozens of simultaneous raids across five cities in collaboration with U.S. officials.

In Washington, however, Justice and Homeland Security officials were surprised by the announcement of the investigation, which they said involved people posing as members of Colombia's largest rebel army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC _ not al-Qaida or Hamas.

Colombian officials said the gang allegedly supplied an unknown number of citizens from Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and other countries with false passports and Colombian nationality without them ever setting foot in the country.

An undisclosed number of those arrested are wanted for working with the al-Qaida terror network and the militant Palestinian group Hamas, said acting Attorney General Jorge Armando Otalora.

The counterfeit Colombian, Spanish, Portugese and German passports were used to enter the United States and Europe, he said.

But Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Miami charges 10 foreign nationals with smuggling "people that they thought were members of FARC into the United States."

"We are not alleging any connections to any terror organization other than the FARC," said Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra.

He said the U.S. will seek to extradite the 10 alleged smugglers, of whom eight have been arrested.

"The operation was, in fact, a sting operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," he said, adding that Colombian law enforcement were "an active and critical part" of the investigation

The Colombian attorney general's office said 19 people were arrested in Thursday's raids, adding they were carried out in collaboration with U.S. authorities.

Four Jordanian citizens were among those arrested, Manuel Saenz, head of foreign immigration for the DAS secret police, said on Caracol television. Eight people are being sought inside the United States for extradition to Colombia, Otalora said.

Colombian authorities began to covertly trail and film suspects to unveil a criminal network with the help of their U.S. counterparts.

The eight wanted by federal authorities in Florida on charges of abetting illegal immigration rings and collaborating with terrorist groups include a Jordanian national and a DAS detective, Colombian authorities said.

Colombian officials didn't say if they believed any Colombian terrorist groups were involved in the scheme.

U.S. officials have long feared al-Qaida could take advantage of corrupt government officials and weak institutions to launch an attack from south of the border.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wir ... id=1548987

US charges 10 with seeking to aid Colombia rebels
Reuters
WASHINGTON - Ten people in Colombia have been charged in Miami with attempting to provide material support to a Colombian guerrilla group, including trying to smuggle its members into the United States, U.S. officials said on Friday.

They said the indictment by a federal grand jury contained no allegations the defendants had connections to any other foreign terrorist organization, such as the Islamic militant groups Hamas or al Qaeda.

Colombia on Thursday arrested 19 members of a passport-forging ring, including eight of the 10 defendants charged in Miami, saying some of the suspects were wanted by the United States for collaborating with Hamas and al Qaeda.

According to the U.S. indictment, during the course of an undercover operation, the defendants arranged and facilitated travel from Colombia to the United States for individuals they believed to be members of the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The U.S. has designated the group a foreign terrorist organization.

Eight of the defendants are Columbian citizens, while one was a Palestinian and another was Venezuelan, according to the indictment.

The defendants provided fraudulent Colombian and Spanish identity documents, including Spanish passports, which allow individuals to enter the United States without a visa, the officials said.

They said the defendants purchased airline tickets to the United States for the individuals and arranged their passage through immigration controls at international airports in Bogota and in Panama City.

The defendants charged over $20,000 for their services, according to the indictment.

The indictment also said that the defendants offered to assist individuals they believed to be FARC members in buying and selling illegal drugs, and that they offered to sell weapons, paramilitary supplies, guns and two helicopters.

The United States intends to seek the extradition of the defendants from Colombia, the officials said. They face sentences of up to 15 years in prison. The officials said two other defendants have yet to be taken into custody.

(Additional reporting by Hugh Bronstein in Bogota)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13733514.htm

Posted on Sat, Jan. 28, 2006


COLOMBIA
U.S. disputes terrorist links to bogus passport ring
Colombian police dismantled a false passport ring. The group might not be linked to Middle East terrorists, as police had suggested.
BY JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

BOGOTA - The United States on Friday asked for the extradition of eight people arrested in Colombia as part of a sting operation to dismantle a false passport ring, but U.S. officials disputed Colombian suggestions that the suspects were linked to Middle Eastern terrorism.

According to an indictment unsealed Thursday in Miami, agents posing as leftist rebels obtained counterfeit Colombian and Spanish passports that would allow them to enter the United States illegally, purportedly to traffic drugs, launder money and buy weapons.

For their services the defendants charged more than $20,000, the indictment alleges.

The eight foreign nationals, seven Colombians and one Palestinian native, were among the 19 arrested in 32 simultaneous raids across the country. Authorities said they seized what they believe were fraudulent passports from Hong Kong, Canada, Jordan and other countries.

Four Jordanian nationals were among those captured, according to officials.

Contradicting the claims of U.S. officials, acting Colombian Attorney General Jorge Armando Otálora insisted Friday that his country's detectives uncovered evidence that the criminal gang may have supplied false documents to members of al Qaeda and Hamas terrorists.

The U.S. Justice Department denied any links between the counterfeiters and foreign terrorist organizations other than outlawed armed groups in Colombia.

As part of the undercover operation, coordinated with Colombian prosecutors and DAS secret police, operatives working for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, disguised themselves as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and sought false passports to enter the United States.

The indictment also alleges the defendants offered to help the supposed FARC members buy and sell illegal drugs, as well as to purchase guns and two helicopters. ''I don't know what the Colombian information is based on, but if there was any involvement of Islamic terrorist groups, we would be pursuing it to the hilt,'' said Bryan Sierra, a Justice Department spokesman.