2 OC MEN TARGETED IN DRUG PROBE

Agents Are Investigating Links Between Narcotics And Terrorist Groups.

Federal agents investigating links between drug money and international
terrorists have targeted two Orange County men who allegedly participated
in a nationwide narcotics-smuggling ring that sent profits to the Middle East.

The local suspects include Jubran Zalan Dighlawi of Orange, accused of
importing millions of ephedrine-based cold and allergy pills from Canada
for sale to drug cookers in Southern California. The over-the-counter
medicine can be used to make methamphetamine. His right-hand man, according
to federal authorities, was Suhail Mata Abdallah of Lake Forest. Abdallah
remains at large. Dighlawi is in federal custody.

The Orange County men, both 32-year-old Palestinians, are among more than
100 people indicted since January in connection with Operation Mountain
Express, a yearlong government effort to shut down illegal suppliers of
pseudoephedrine, a common antihistamine. "We have multi-source information
indicating that some of the proceeds derived from the sale of the
pseudoephedrine has gone back to the Middle East to support terrorist
organizations," said Will Glasby, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement
Administration's headquarters in Washington, D.C. But none of the
defendants in Operation Mountain Express has been charged with
terrorism-related charges, and some of their attorneys say their clients
are being unfairly linked to terrorism.

Authorities in the United States have been scrutinizing profits from a
variety of drug deals, scams and charities since the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks in response to President George W. Bush's mandate to cut off
funding to terror groups.

In an unrelated sting, Justice Department officials announced this month
the arrests of three men in Hong Kong who allegedly offered to trade heroin
and hashish in exchange for Stinger anti-aircraft missiles they planned to
deliver to the al-Qaida terror network.

Federal agents say they are trying to determine which of the alleged
drug-ring members were involved in sending the money to the Middle East,
Glasby said. DEA officials have refused to disclose the amount of money
sent, which organizations might have benefited from the drug profits or
which countries were involved.

Prosecutors have presented no evidence showing that the Orange County men
were personally involved in the transfer of money to terrorists.

Dighlawi appeared Friday in federal court in San Diego and is scheduled to
appear again next month.

Attorney Michael Pancer, representing Dighlawi, declined to discuss details
of the case but denied that his client has any connection to terrorism.

"There have been no (terrorism connections) alleged by the government in
our case," he said. "There are none that exist. It's just a straight-up
drug case."

Pseudoephedrine is the most important ingredient in the making of
methamphetamine. In 1992, Congress passed the Chemical Diversion and
Trafficking Act, which imposed strict regulations on the sale of large
quantities of pseudoephedrine.

Since then, Canada has become the leading supplier of pseudoephedrine to
illegal drug makers in the United States, DEA officials said.

Dighlawi holds Nicaraguan travel documents under an alias and Abdallah
holds a Jordanian passport.

The men were indicted in January, culminating an investigation by state and
federal law enforcement agencies that secretly listened to telephone calls
and relied upon confidential informants.

Besides San Diego, pseudoephedrine smuggling ring cases are being heard in
Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas,
Riverside and Fresno.

Few details have been made public about the roles the Orange County
defendants allegedly played in the smuggling ring.

In a 14-count indictment, federal prosecutors said that between May 29,
2001, and Jan. 4, Dighlawi arranged for the delivery of 286 pounds of
Canadian pseudoephedrine, valued at more than $325,000 on the black market.

"We characterize them as significant pseudoephedrine suppliers to Mexican
national drug dealers in San Diego," said Special Agent Donald Thornhill of
the Carlsbad DEA office, which investigated the case involving the Orange
County men.

Abdallah is believed to have assisted in the delivery of the
pseudoephedrine. Eleven other defendants - 10 of them Palestinians - also
are named in the San Diego case.

Attorneys for several of the men have complained in court filings that the
government's failure to produce more information about specific allegations
is hampering their ability to defend their clients.

Some also have expressed concern that the ambiguous allegations of
terrorist ties could make it difficult for their clients to receive fair
trials.

"Those allegations are easily made because of the climate and the times
we're in," said Matt Lees, whose client Towfic Yoseph Soury is among the
Palestinian defendants charged in the San Diego case. "My client has no
connection to terrorism. I would hate to have that shrouding my client
during trial."

In a related case being tried in Los Angeles, other alleged participants of
the ring often met in restaurants, parking lots and apartments throughout
Orange County to set up deals for the purchase and sale of pseudoephedrine,
court records showed.

Dighlawi and Abdallah disappeared from Orange County in the days after the
indictments were handed down.

Dighlawi was arrested in Jordan in July on unrelated charges and was
extradited to Turkey, where he was picked up by DEA agents and returned to
Southern California.

Abdallah's whereabouts are unknown. A rented home on Jagger Street in Lake
Forest where he lived is now occupied by a new tenant. A message left for
the landlord was not returned.

A woman who answered the door at the $500,000 Meridian Street home in
Orange where Dighlawi resided identified herself only as his sister but
declined to comment, citing the pending criminal charges. Property records
show the home was purchased in Sept. 2001 by a Jaime Y. Misleh. According
to court documents, Dighlawi's Nicaraguan passport was issued under the
name Yubran Yussef Salam Mesle.

DEA Seeks Help From Public To Find Fugitive

The Drug Enforcement Administration is asking for help in finding fugitive
suspect Suhail Mata Abdallah. Anyone with information is asked to call
(858) 616-4100.