Posted by
Darko Trifunovic on Thursday, May 01, 2008 6:15:55 AM
Cigarette Smugglers Funnel Money to Terror Groups, Report Finds
Source: Fox News, 29 April
Cigarette smuggling is generating millions of
dollars every year that can be reaching terrorist groups, including Hezbollah,
Hamas and Al Qaeda, according to law enforcement sources. In a single case,
$100,000 was sent to Hezbollah. A 15-page report congressional report,
obtained by FOX News, includes intelligence from law enforcement as well as
New York
State ’s Department of Taxation and
Finance. The report reads in part: Cigarette smuggling is generating millions
of dollars every year that can be reaching terrorist groups, including
Hezbollah, Hamas and Al Qaeda, according to law enforcement sources. In a
single case, $100,000 was sent to Hezbollah. “This is a very serious
homeland security issue, one that has gone unnoticed for far too long,”
said Rep. Peter King, (R-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Homeland
Security Committee, who called for the investigation.
“Cigarette smugglers are able to generate
millions of dollars in illegal profits with a great deal of this wealth being
sent to terrorist groups overseas – groups that would like nothing more
than to inflict devastating harm on our country and its citizens.”
One of the key issues, according to the report, is a
potential flaw in New York
State policy. According
to King’s office, there is a policy in the state of
“forebearance,” or refusing to collect on sales of Native American
tax-free cigarettes to non-Native Americans. Critics of the policy say it has
effectively created a safe haven for smugglers. In some cases, the report says,
a well-organized operation can buy cigarettes tax-free on New
York ’s Indian reservations and sell them at a great profit
in the New Yock
City area, generating up to $300,000
per week with a loss of up to $576 million in tax revenues to
New York State .
According to the report, citing federal and New
York state law enforcement sources, nearly 60 percent of all convenience retail
outlets in New York City are now Arab-owned, primarily families of Lebanese,
Yemeni, Jordanian and Palestinian descent. While the vast majority of retailers
are operating above board, some are not.
The report says that these retailers can funnel their
profits from the sale of cigarettes to terrorist groups in the
Mideast . It claims this “tobacco and terror”
relationship has been found in a handful of recent cases. “…the
infamous ‘Lackawanna Seven’ reportedly received funding from an
individual named Aref Ahmed for their travel from Buffalo to Afghanistan to
attend an al Qaeda training camp,” the report says, referring to a group
of American-born men of Yemeni descent who pleaded guilty to terror training.
“The State is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue; and
given the current budget shortfall, this would seem to be more than enough
reason to put the so-called policy of forebearance out of its misery,”
King said. “But this is more than just a matter of lost revenue. It is a
matter of national security. Cigarette smuggling in
New York State
must be brought to an end immediately.” Hearings dealing specifically
with the report are scheduled this Thursday in
Washington before the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.