Thread: New York breaks cigarette-smuggling ring linked to militants

New York says breaks cigarette-smuggling ring linked to militants

Reuters By Mark Hosenball | Reuters – 3 hrs ago..

By Mark Hosenball

(Reuters) - Fifteen men of Palestinian origin have been arrested on charges of running a multi-million-dollar cigarette smuggling ring in New York, and New York authorities who announced the arrests on Thursday said several of the suspects have ties to Hamas and other Islamist militant groups.

The men are accused of smuggling more than a million cartons of untaxed cigarettes from Virginia to be sold in grocery stores across New York, with $55 million in sales uncovered so far, Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, and Ray Kelly, the New York City police commissioner, said at a press conference.

"We don't know where all of that money went, but what we do know is deeply troubling," Schneiderman said. "We know that some members of this group have ties to very dangerous people, we know they were arrested with weapons, we know that they made tens of millions of dollars but so far we have found only a fraction of that."

Investigators are still tracking where much of the money ended up, but they noted similar rings in the past have funneled money to Hamas, the Islamist government in Gaza, and Hezbollah, the militant Shi'ite group based in Lebanon, both of which are considered to be terrorist organizations by the United States.

All 15 men remained in custody on Thursday and could not be reached for comment. It was not immediately clear if they had retained lawyers.

A 16th man accused of taking part in the ring, Ribhi Awadeh, 39, from Guttenberg, New Jersey, remained at large after flying to Jordan several weeks ago, Schneiderman said.

In a 224-count indictment, the men are charged with enterprise corruption, money laundering and other tax crimes, for which each defendant faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. In addition to costing New York State and New York City an estimated $80 million in lost sales tax revenue, the ring generated at least $10 million in profit, Schneiderman and Kelly said.

None of the men lived extravagantly, Schneiderman said, adding that this supported the idea the money was being funneled elsewhere.

"This is not the lifestyles of the rich and famous," Schneiderman said. "We are very concerned about where the money went."

Kelly said that Youssef Odeh, 52, of Staten Island, who is accused of being a distributor for the ring, received an investment for an illegal baby formula distribution business in the 1990s from Omar Abdel Rahman, often dubbed the "blind sheik," who is imprisoned for helping plot the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Muaffaq Askar, 46, of Brooklyn, who is accused of being one of the ring's resellers, was a confidant of Rashid Baz, Kelly said. Baz, a Lebanese immigrant, is serving a 141-year prison sentence after being convicted in the 1994 shooting of Ari Halberstam, a 16-year-old yeshiva student in Brooklyn, which Baz said was in retaliation for the killing of Muslim worshippers in the West Bank by a Jewish settler from Brooklyn.

Mohannad Seif, 39, of Brooklyn, another accused reseller, had been under police surveillance in part because he had lived in the same three-story Brooklyn building as a former secretary to Moussa Abu Marzouk, a deputy leader of Hamas.

Authorities said the ring was headed by two brothers, Basel Ramadan, 42, and Samir Ramadan, 40, both of Ocean City, Maryland, who ran a couple of local Subway restaurant franchises. Investigators said they found $1.4 million stashed in Basel Ramadan's home, some of it stuffed in black plastic trash bags, and three handguns following his arrest on Thursday.

The ring bought cigarettes from a wholesaler in Virginia and kept them in a storage facility in Delaware, Schneiderman said.

A co-conspirator, Adel Abuzahrieh, 42, of Brooklyn, was accused of driving from New York to Delaware several times a week to exchange cash for cigarettes, and then return with the illicit goods for resale.

Two of the accused men are in the United States illegally, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Others, including the Ramadan brothers, are naturalized citizens, while the rest are legal permanent residents.

http://news.yahoo.com/york-says-brea...003952926.html

How is it people from other countries seem to own business's and why do they own so many..why aren't they the ones working for Americans or why aren't they working factories or anything but owning gas stations , 7-11s and subways for god sake.....

Originally Posted by ExCaliGal

How is it people from other countries seem to own business's and why do they own so many..why aren't they the ones working for Americans or why aren't they working factories or anything but owning gas stations , 7-11s and subways for god sake.....

Family members, friends, neighbors, etc. pool their money so that one of them can buy a business and hire the others to work there without checking their immigration status.

Ok so where and how do they get the money to pool together ...do they have that kind of money and that large of a family to be able to buy a subway...what about the red tape you have to go through?
I love my family but to go into business with them ....

Originally Posted by ExCaliGal

Ok so where and how do they get the money to pool together ...do they have that kind of money and that large of a family to be able to buy a subway...what about the red tape you have to go through?
I love my family but to go into business with them ....

Some people actually have money that they bring with them when they come here. Others borrow money from crooks like the cigarette smugglers and then they have to buy the cigarettes that they sell from the smugglers to make money to pay back the loan and the interest. They work together because they often can't get a job anyplace else, because of their lack of English or lack of job skills. By working long hours for low wages they get job skills and learn everyday English which helps them get a better job someday or buy a business in the same manner.

Ok got it....when the Vietnamese landed in Orange County Ca ,the government-gave them money or lent them money plus government aide...they also drove the best cars back then.....so I was thinking our government helped them..

And some families have some members who sell drugs or commit other crimes to make the money. N.Y. pizza guy charged with delivering cocaine

5:36 p.m. EDT May 17, 2013


This Thursday photo provided by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York shows cocaine wrapped in black plastic and placed in the center of a pizza box after being confiscated in a narcotics arrest in New York. Authorities say Ramon Rodriguez, 45, used his job at a pizzeria as a cover to sell cocaine, making 19 sales of the drug to an undercover officer since the fall of 2011.(Photo: AP/Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York))
Story Highlights

• Ramon Rodriguez was taken into custody after selling a kilo of cocaine using a pizza box as cover
• Police say he made at least 19 sales to an undercover officer
• Officers report he told them he was moving away from pizza delivery to drug sales

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say a Brooklyn man arrested on drug charges used his job at a pizzeria as a cover as he delivered more than pizza pies.
Officials on Thursday announced the arrest of 45-year-old Ramon Rodriguez. They say he had made at least 19 sales of cocaine to an undercover officer since the fall of 2011.
He was taken into custody on Wednesday night after authorities said he sold a kilo of cocaine in front of the Brooklyn pizza store where he worked, using a pizza box as a cover.
Authorities say Rodriguez told officers over the course of the undercover effort that he was breaking away from pizza deliveries to make the drug sales.
There was no information on a lawyer for Rodriguez. He was awaiting arraignment later Thursday.
　
　
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/17/brooklyn-coke-delivery/2216295/

Originally Posted by ExCaliGal

Ok got it....when the Vietnamese landed in Orange County Ca ,the government-gave them money or lent them money plus government aide...they also drove the best cars back then.....so I was thinking our government helped them..

I think people who come here as refugees/asylum seekers still get government aid, in Medicaid, welfare, WIC, etc.