DRUG RING LINKED TO TERROR

Metro Detroit Money Went To Mideast, U.S. Says

Four metro Detroit men indicted on drug trafficking charges in January were
part of a nationwide smuggling ring that was funneling money to Middle
Eastern terrorist groups, including Hizballah, federal authorities say.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the four men and others with
ties to Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon and other Mideast countries smuggled
pseudoephedrine, a chemical used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine,
from Canada to locations in the Midwest -- primarily Detroit and Chicago.

The chemical was sold to Mexican-run methamphetamine operations in the
western United States, the DEA said. Some of the proceeds of the drug sales
then were diverted to Middle East accounts that authorities said they have
linked to terrorist groups. Representatives from the U.S. attorney's office
in Detroit could not be reached for comment Sunday. FBI Special Agent Chuck
Whistler said Sunday evening the Detroit office was unaware of the latest
developments.

There is no evidence that any of the money was connected to the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, officials said. But some of the accounts are linked to
the Iranian-backed group Hizballah, which has claimed responsibility for
attacks in Israel and elsewhere.

"There is increasing intelligence information from the investigation that,
for the first time, alleged drug sales in the United States are going in
part to support terrorist organizations in the Middle East," DEA
Administrator Asa Hutchinson said Friday.

DEA officials said U.S. authorities don't yet know how much drug money was
funneled to the terrorist groups, but said the pseudoephedrine sales
amounted to millions of dollars. Pseudoephedrine, which is used in some
popular cold and allergy medications, is an essential ingredient in
methamphetamine, a powerful and popular drug also known as ice or crystal
meth.

For months, Hutchinson has been warning that illegal drug money provides a
compelling opportunity for terror groups to siphon financial support from
the United States. But the DEA investigation has uncovered the first
evidence of a direct flow of money.

"A significant portion of some of the sales are sent to the Middle East to
benefit terrorist organizations," Hutchinson said.

The drug ring was broken up Jan. 10 as part of a massive DEA investigation
called Operation Mountain Express, which has smashed several major
methamphetamine operations in the past two years. Arrests were made in
Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Phoenix and several California cities.

In Detroit, a six-count federal indictment charged four men with conspiracy
to possess and conspiracy to import a chemical for use to manufacture
illegal drugs. They are: Mohamad Mahmoud Jafar, 45, and Haidar Auon, 38,
both of Dearborn Heights, and Assaad Hamdan, 38, and Mohamad Kassir, 33,
both of Dearborn. Jafar, Auon and Kassir were arrested the night of the DEA
raid; Hamdan was still at large. As of Sunday evening, Hamdan was still a
fugitive, said David Jacobson, a special agent with the DEA. Jafar is in
custody, under supervision of the Detroit division of the U.S. Marshal's
Service. Auon and Kassir are free on bond pending trial. A trial date has
not been set for either man.

On the same night as the DEA raid, U.S. Customs agents arrested three other
men in a hotel in Taylor. Kamal Mohamed Nagi, Saleh Mohsen Elmathil and
Norbert Kurzawa, whose hometowns weren't released at the time, were charged
with trafficking in pseudoephedrine. The outcome of those cases also could
not be determined Sunday night.

DEA officials said the raids and subsequent investigation have resulted in
criminal charges against 136 people and the seizure of nearly 36 tons of
pseudoephedrine, 179 pounds of methamphetamine, $4.5 million in cash, eight
real estate properties and 160 cars used by the drug gangs.

It wasn't until after the drug arrests, the DEA said, that evidence of the
terror ties emerged. Authorities said it is possible some defendants charged
with drug violations could face additional charges.

The Bush administration has been stepping up efforts to stem the flow of
U.S. money and goods to foreign terror groups under a law that prohibits
providing material support and resources to known terrorist organizations.
Last Wednesday, six men who lived in the United States were indicted on
charges they conspired to provide such support to Al Qaeda or related
terrorist causes.

Three of the men charged are from the Detroit area. They are: Farouk
Ali-Haimoud, 22; Ahmed Hannan, 34, and Karim Koubriti, 24. All were arrested
six days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when federal agents raided
their flat in southwest Detroit. In June 2001, Ali-Haimoud, Hannan and
Koubriti met with an unidentified man in their Dearborn apartment on
Riverside to try to recruit the man to participate in the jihad, or holy
war, against the United States, the government alleges. Hannan and Koubriti
have been in custody for nearly a year. Ali-Haimoud was released, but was
arrested again in March and is now in custody.

Federal agents believe they have uncovered a broad effort by U.S. residents,
many of them legal immigrants or visitors, to use stolen credit cards,
illegal cigarette sales, diverted charitable funds and cash smuggled in
airline luggage to enrich anti-American and anti-Israeli terror groups,
officials said.

"The money mechanisms being used to aid terrorism are limited only by your
imagination," said one senior law enforcement official involved in the
effort. "There is a significant amount of money moved out of the United
States attributed to fraud that goes to terrorism."

The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because much of the
details remain sealed in a grand jury investigation. The official said the
early evidence suggests that groups like Hizballah and Hamas, the
Palestinian group that has claimed responsibility for countless attacks in
Israel, benefit far more from U.S.-based funds than Osama bin Laden's Al
Qaeda network.