Friday, April 30, 2010

A Canadian Connection To Somali Piracy

In this handout from the U.S. Navy, The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) passes by the smoke from a suspected pirate skiff it disabled March 31, 2010 in the Gulf of Aden. USS Farragut is part of Combined Task Force 151, a multinational task force established to conduct anti-piracy operations. Photograph by: (Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Cassandra Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

Somali-Canadians Getting Piece Of Pirates' Ransom Pie: Intelligence Expert -- Montreal Gazette

Some Somali-Canadians have received a cut of the ransoms collected by pirates operating off the Horn of Africa and money may have been sent back to Somalia to fund other hijackings, according to an intelligence specialist on piracy.

Karsten von Hoesslin, a senior analyst for Risk Intelligence, told naval officers from Pacific Ocean nations gathered in Victoria for a three-day maritime security conference, that the transfer of ransom money has been tracked from Somalia to Ottawa and a number of other locations that are home to Somali communities.

"It's coming to Ottawa, it's in London and Nairobi," he said. "We know where the money is going."

Read more ....

My Comment: Unlike the U.S. .... post 911 .... Canada has always had a problem (or lack of will?) in tracking money going and out of the country. Being a Canadian myself .... this news does not surprise me at all.

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