U.S. authorities break up alleged Hezbollah cell
Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:14 PM by Ron Nurwisah
terrorism
The Post's Stewart Bell writes about an FBI bust on an alleged Hezbollah cell with some chilling links to Canada.

From his story:

The FBI has dismantled an alleged Hezbollah cell accused of arms dealing, depositing counterfeit money in a Canadian bank and selling a Canadian passport to support the Lebanese terrorist group.

Ten people from New York, New Jersey, Lebanon and Venezuela have been indicted and face up to 30 years in prison following an investigation that began in 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

Below is the text of the press release sent by the Department of Justice:

PHILADELPHIA β€” David S. Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Department of Justice, and U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy, together with Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Philadelphia), John P. Kelleghan, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Philadelphia), Don Fort, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service (Philadelphia), and Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police today announced the indictment of 10 individuals charged with, among other things, conspiring to export weapons from Philadelphia to the Port of Latakia, Syria.

According to the indictment, Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani Harb attempted to provide material support to Hizballah in the form of approximately 1,200 Colt M4 Carbines (machine guns). Harb and other defendants β€” including Moussa Ali Hamdan and Hasan Antar Karaki β€” were also charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah in the form of proceeds from the sale of fraudulent passports, counterfeit money and stolen (genuine) money. In addition, Hamdan and several other defendants (listed below) were charged with several counts of transporting stolen goods, trafficking in counterfeit goods, and making false statements to government officials.

β€œThe allegations contained in this complaint demonstrate how terrorist organizations rely on a variety of underlying criminal activities to fund and arm themselves. I applaud the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who worked tirelessly to bring about these charges and arrests,β€