African Smuggling Rings Pose Threat
AP, July 08, 2008
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The intercepted e-mail was alarmingly matter-of-fact for anyone worried about a new terror attack: “getting into U.S is no problem at all. thats what i do best.”
The Ghanaian man who wrote it is in prison, accused of smuggling East Africans into the United States via Latin America for economic reasons. But the government worries such operations also could be used to sneak terrorists into the United States now that passports and other travel documents have become harder to acquire and more difficult to fake.
Intelligence officials are focusing new attention on these networks that smuggle people from Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan—known havens for terrorists, including al-Qaida—according to an internal government assessment obtained by The Associated Press.
In the 12 months that ended last Sept. 30, U.S. officials caught 372 East Africans trying to get into the country, the assessment said. This is the most from these countries since the Homeland Security Department was formed in 2003. And 159 people from the same countries have been caught trying to enter since Oct. 1—including 138 from Eritrea, far more than any other country in the Horn of Africa.
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Authorities shut down one major East African pipeline in 2007, according to court documents reviewed by AP.
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Routes have included traveling from East Africa to Johannesburg, South Africa, and from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo, Brazil. East Africans also flew from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or Rome to Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela in 2007, according to the intelligence assessment. In addition, the smugglers have access to fake and real Belizean, Bolivian, Chilean, Mexican, Peruvian and South African visas.
In the Boateng and Ibrahim smuggling cases, people were stored in luggage compartments of buses for as long as 12 hours and driven to the U.S.-Mexican border. The smugglers escorted clients as they walked across the border into the U.S. between official entry ports.
Ibrahim and Boateng used international carriers DHL and Federal Express to deliver payments and travel documents.
{snip}
East Africans are mostly coming to the U.S. to find a better life because of job opportunities that don’t exist in their home countries.
One senior intelligence official said there’s little evidence yet of East Africans trying to cross into the U.S. to engage in terrorist activity. The official requested anonymity because the information in the assessment is not public.
{snip}
The number of smuggling networks has remained steady over the past 10 years, with the highest concentration in Latin America, Hatfield said. It’s the price and violence that have gone up. Ten years ago, it might have cost $500 to go from Mexico to Texas, whereas now it could cost up to $2,000.
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(Posted on July 9, 2008)
Comments
Let’s spend the $4 billion and get this over with. If we collected $13.33 from every person living here we could have a triple row fence replete with anti-car ditches and razor wire running the entire length of the US-Mexico border.
We should view it as an investment in money saved on our education system, environment, etc. Better yet, I bet we could get the money through voluntary contributions. Where do I send my money?
Posted by hugo at 5:42 PM on July 9
I think that America has done enough to elevate the Africans. Didn’t we bring a few million of them here a couple centuries ago? Let China take them for a change.
Posted by Schoolteacher at 5:53 PM on July 9
Maybe we now know another reason why black politicians love open borders so much. It means more black Africans here, and thus more votes for them. The more practical political reason is that Hispanic voters empower Democrats which empowers the black political leadership.
Posted by Question Diversity at 6:12 PM on July 9
Camp Of The Saints! Why do we just sit and do NOTHING about what is happening to our country and our OWN people? They are washing up on our shores via the open southern border!
Posted by at 6:46 PM on July 9
“yet another reason to seal the border with Mexico”
Some of our forefathers,( Senator J.C. Calhoun,etc.) long ago, were so convinced ,that, for this nation to have any entanglements with Mexico, would be a disaster and lead to the United States’s downfall. Talk about foresight.
Posted by Bobby at 7:13 PM on July 9
Why don’t the Africans just go to the nearest catholic or protestant missionary? They bring Africans to the USA all the time. And instead of delivering them to some horrible slave labor job, the christians set them up on SSI, food stamps, Sec 8 housing and other benefits.
Posted by at 8:17 PM on July 9
America is emasculated. Uncle Sam is effectively neutered. Law enforcement, whatever branch it might be, is afraid it ‘might get in trouble’ for aggressively doing what by law they have been mandated to do—not to mention that arresting and deporting the 20 occupants of a house clearly harboring illegal aliens might be ‘too much like work’. It’s disgusting. I watched a National Geographic documentary on gangs overtaking L.A. neighborhoods. EVERYONE knows who they are, but officials are mortally scared, need years to make a case, or are worried about lawsuits … so nothing is done. What is WRONG with enforcement? … and that’s no rhetorical question! I want to know WHY! Tell me why.
Posted by ActionPotential at 8:46 PM on July 9
Years ago in one of my various and nefarious undertakings, I went on one such nefarious boat trip (small ship actually) all the way down to the north west coast of South America with some equally nefarious stops in between. The point of this small narration is that not once was the vessel I was on stopped or hailed, not once and most of the time we were within sight of the coast of the U.S. but out of sight the further south we went. Which leads me to believe that the U.S. government is involved in some small amount of smuggling itself for financial gain of some politicians, those who wish to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to release the information!!! We call those people SECURITY LEAKS!
Posted by Skip at 7:08 AM on July 10
Having lived in Tucson for 5 years, I can testify that most Americans have no idea what is really going on at the border. I am now in PA and their is never a single article in the paper on the subject. In Tucson, at least 5 articles per day are in the paper. At least 80% of all murders in Tucson are committed by illegals. Everyday a hundred or so pounds of drugs are caught coming over the border. Illegals being deported for the 8th time. There was even an illegal who was having a heart attack, came to the US and went to a hospital. The bill? 80,000$ but have no fear, he is paying it off……5$/per month. Finally, there is the legal discrimination that English speakers face everyday. “Bi-lingual preferred” means “English speakers need not apply”. Even national corporations like The Girl Scouts of America discriminate against English speakers. An American burned a Mexican flag and was charged with arson. Had he burned an American flag, it would have been ‘free speech’. I put 100% of this on our treasonous “president”, Jorge W. Bush.
Posted by Alucard at 9:21 AM on July 10
“What is WRONG with enforcement? … and that’s no rhetorical question! I want to know WHY! Tell me why.”
Law enforcement, the community, civic groups, they really aren’t squimish at all, as long as offending group is white.
Posted by at 1:14 PM on July 10
“Bi-lingual preferred” means “English speakers need not apply”
I’ve read those ‘personal’ ads of singles. Sometimes they say ‘race not important’ on them. When they say that usually it means race is the most important thing.
Posted by at 1:19 PM on July 10
Imagine if all the Boer decided to storm our border en masse, would our government work to stop it?
Really, would they seal the border if large numbers of White immigrants decided to cross it?
Posted by Ronduck at 6:00 PM on July 10
Wow, 372 whole Africans in 12 months. In other words, roughly half the people you see shopping in your local Safeway on Saturday afternoon.
We must stop this epidemic!
Posted by at 8:02 PM on July 10
“Wow, 372 whole Africans in 12 months. In other words, roughly half the people you see shopping in your local Safeway on Saturday afternoon.
We must stop this epidemic!”
Posted by at 8:02 PM on July 10
We must stop it before the trickle becomes a gush.
I have wondered why and where these FOTB blacks on a couple street corners begging for food have come from. When they come in legit, they get housing subsidies, food stamps, job preferrences, etc. What I see lately is blacks who seem to not be in the system. That means that they must be illegal. Note also that they are not looking for jobs, just begging for money “to buy food” - according to their cardboard signs.
Posted by Whiteplight at 1:03 PM on July 11
Dear Alucard….I too live in PA and the media keeps it’s mouth shut about illegals as much as possible….they are hand and hand with the big companies and those in power in Washington….but just wait till some illegal kills one of them….then look out…I hope it happens soon, let them see how outraged they just might get!!!
Posted by lydia at 2:12 PM on July 11
I think that America has done enough to elevate the Africans. Didn’t we bring a few million of them here a couple centuries ago? Let China take them for a change.
Posted by Schoolteacher at 5:53 PM on July 9
China imported millions of African slaves. So where are all the African-Chinese? Well, China only imported males, castrated males. China made sure there would absolutely be no problems in their society such as we have today.
Posted by Victor Gerhard at 1:40 PM on July 12