Armies of Liberation

SABA

Yemen hands over Syria involved-drug trafficking companies list

DAMASCUS, Jan. 12 09 (Saba) – Yemen handed over on Monday to Syria a list of the Syrian companies involved in trafficking drugs to Yemen.

The list was delivered by the Yemeni ambassador to Damascus Abdul Wahab Tawaf to the Syrian Industry Minister Fouad Issa Juni.

The Ambassador told the minister that the companies facilitate hiding drugs within their goods exported to Yemen, demanding Syria to take deterrent measures against the companies and including them in the blacklist.

During the meeting, both sides discussed activating the cooperation protocols signed between the two countries to increase the trade exchange volume.

Lost the link, this is the case where they said the US navy planted the drugs (??!!), the OJ defense.

The specialized panel court sentenced last Saturday an Iranian to death, and eleven other Iranians and two Pakistanis to 25 years in prison for drug smuggling.

In the session presided over by Judge Muhsin Alwan, and in the presence of the Attorney General representative, the court issued the death sentence against Ayub Mohamed Hood.

The charges stated that the suspects were seized in Yemeni territorial waters, smuggling a large quantity of hashish estimated at 3100 pounds(1500kg).

The verdict also added that there is a strong link between the suspects and other drug dealers inside the country.

Twenty five years imprisonment sentence were given to Chakib Mohammad Bakhsh, Othman Haider, Abu Bakar Mohmed, Ibrahim Eda Saidi, Ali Murad Bloushi, Abdul Rahim Azizallah, Mohammad Murad Bakech, Ghulam Nabi Salim Marjan, Radi Yusuf Hood, Khalid Jean Nizar, Mohamed Bakhsh, Musa Bakhsh Hassan, and Abdel Wahed Murad Bakhsh.

The General Attorney’s representative still believed that the verdict was soft, and was demanding the execution of all the accused.

Suspects claimed that they had no relation with the matter of smuggling hashish and other drugs, saying they are innocents. “We read the Holy Quran and pray; we don’t lie and this rule is unfair and unjust,” said Mohamed Ayub who was sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, governmental authorities burned last Wednesday one thousand four hundred seventy-seven kilogram of drugs that were seized in several governorates. It also seized over one million drug tablets during the last four months alone.

From his part, Judge Radwan Al-Namer confirmed that more drug cases still exist and their trials are underway. “There are ten drug and hashish cases still ongoing in the specialized criminal court,” he concludes.

Most of the arms dealers were released after signing a pledge

Almotamar.net – Interior Minister General Mutahar Rashad al-Misri revealed that security authorities on Tuesday seized 3 million and 700 thousand intoxicating pills and managed during the first half of this year 18 tons of drugs, saying it was a quantity enough to destroy the entire youth of the Arab homeland.

Minister al-Misri also said the security authorities also managed to capture the terrorist cell that was sending threatening messages to some embassies in Yemen. In addition, security authorities were able to carry out the campaign of prohibiting weapons and the closure of 230 shops for selling arms and munitions. They detained 270 arms dealers in a number of governorates.

The Americans planted the drugs on the boat, they say.

13 Iranians stand trial on charges of smuggling drugs
Sunday, 12-October-2008
Almotamar.net – Yemen Specialised Criminal Court has on Sunday begun its first sittings for the trial of thirteen Iranian defendants on charge of bringing in and promoting drugs as well s entering the Yemeni regional waters in an illegal way.

In the sitting chaired by Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution accused the defendants of bringing drugs from Iran to Yemen via the Iranian port of kanar on board of a boat and entering the Yemeni regional waters illegally.

The attorney added that 20kg of hashish were caught in possession of the defendants. The prosecution related causes of the accusation and a list of evidence containing confessions of the defendants of being arrested by American forces and in their possession the narcotics on board of the launch they were boarding and then they were handed over to Yemeni forces and that they had no permission for entering the Yemeni regional waters an had signed the minutes of their capture, but they accused the Americans of putting drugs in the boat though they do not possess the evidence that the Americans were the ones that put the drugs on the boat. That cohesion was made by most of the defendants whereas some confessed of possessing o drugs.

The court decided postponement of the trial to next Sunday to enable the prosecution present evidence and address the lawyers union to retain lawyers to defend the defendants.

American international forces had caught the boat al-Hussein in the regional waters and on its board 13 Iranians and 3 tons of hashish which was destroyed by the international forces there and kept a sample of 20 kg in addition to capturing 22 empty sacks which were hashish package. The captured things were also 3 Thoraya telephone sets, a wireless set a set for spotting locations and a sum of 830 Iranian riyals and 10200 Pakistani rupees.

Penal court tries Iranians on charges of drugs trafficking

[12 October 2008]
SANA’A, Oct. 12 (Saba)- The specialized primary penal court started on Sunday trying a new group of thirteen Iranians accused of bringing drugs from Iran to Yemeni regional waters.

In the first session presided over by Judge Mohsen Alwan, the court conducted judicial investigations with accused for knowing their identities, their business and their personalities as well as it heard the accusation decision made by the prosecution against them.

The decision clarified that the accused brought last March 3100 pound of drugs of Hashish kind from Iran port of Kiran into Yemeni regional waters.

The prosecution showed the court that the international forces that arrested the boat, carrying Iranian banner and 13 Iranians on board, in the Indian Ocean had spoiled the quantities of Hashish and kept 20 kilos, then handed them over to Yemeni authorities with other plastic sacks.

The court then presented the case directed by the prosecution against the accused who denied knowledge of the drugs seized in their boat. They accused the American forces who arrested them of banding their eyes and laying down the drugs in their boat after they unloaded the fish they hunted into the sea.

The court asked the prosecution to provide the evidences for discussing them during the session to come and directed memo to Lawyers Syndicate for authorizing advocate for defending the accused Iranian.

Gulf News

Sana’a: Eleven Iranians and one Pakistani were put on trial in Yemen on Sunday on charges of drug smuggling.

The hearing was adjourned till October 13 because translators did not come to the court.

The defendants requested the State Security Court chaired by Judge Redhwan Al Namer to appoint lawyers for them.

One of the defendants, who spoke broken Arabic, helped the Judge verify the names and ages of the accused, which range between 24 to 50 years.

No representatives from the Iranian or Pakistani embassy in Sana’a attended the first court session.

The prosecutor accused the men of smuggling a total of 3,560 kilogrammes of drugs from Pakistan to the Yemeni territorial waters with the purpose trading.

Earlier this year, the authorities arrested a total of 26 Iranians and Pakistanis on their east coast, including these 12, with about 12 tonnes of drugs.

Meanwhile, three tonnes of hashish were confiscated from a Pakistani boat in the Gulf of Aden this week, according to a ministry of interior statement.
An American warship intercepted the Pakistani boat and handed it over to the Yemeni Coast Guards, said the statement.

Security seize 135 kg of hashish in Harad city

[16 September 2008]
SANA’A, Sep. 16 (Saba) – Security sources said on Tuesday that about 135 kg of hashish and a big quantity of wine were seized at Harad city of Hajjah province.

The sources were quoted by the military-run 26sep.net as saying that the hashish and wine were prepared to be smuggled into Saudi Arabia.

This references the earlier bust of millions of dollars worth of hash.

al-Motamar

Almotamar.net – Almotamar.net learned Thursday from judiciary sources that the criminal prosecution has completed lately interrogation with 16 Pakistanis accused of bringing 12 tons of narcotics with the aim of trading with them in Yemen.

According to the sources that it is scheduled sending the file of the defendants to court beginning of next week to stand trial. Security authorities has caught the accused persons in March this year at Al-Mukalla seaport , Hadramnout governorate on board of a Pakistani boat coming from a port called the “port of Pakistani boasts”

Yemen Times

Yemen seizes ten million drugs capsules in 8 months

Security sources said on Sunday that Interior Ministry seized about 1400000 capsules of drugs since the beginning of 2008. The sources added that the latest operation of capturing drugs was done in the Aden harbor, where about 3500000 capsules of drugs were found inside water heaters imported from a neighbor country. The source pointed out that investigations are underway with the smugglers.

Last week, the security forces in Hodeidah province held a Syrian citizen charged with smuggling 1.212 million captagon pills into the country. The seizure comes after the security forces seized a large amount of captagon pills concealed in water heaters shipped in a container and after they found large quantities of hashish on two cars.

UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Due to its technological development under communism,
Bulgarian criminals have had an advantage in synthetic
drugs production. They are best known for production
of Kaptagon (fenethylline), a synthetic stimulant prized
in the Middle East for its alleged aphrodisiacal qualities.
Today, most pills sold as Kaptagon are, in fact, forms
of amphetamine that are easier to produce, but large
quantities of these counterfeits are regularly seized.
There have also been reports of false Kaptagon being
produced in Turkey, destined largely for markets in the
Middle East. According to Europol:
… amphetamine tableted with the ‘captagon’ logo is produced
on a substantial scale in Bulgaria for the domestic
market as well as for the export to Turkey and Middle
East countries such as Saudi Arabia. More than 900 kg
of amphetamine were seized in Bulgaria in 2006, the
majority on its way to Turkey. Moreover, Turkey reported
the seizure of nine amphetamine production, storage
and tableting sites detected in its territory plus more than
fourteen million amphetamine / ‘captagon’ tablets as well
as 65 kg of BMK. According to Bulgarian information this
production is controlled by Bulgarian organised crime.189
But the potential for synthetic drug production exists in
other countries as well, such as Serbia.

no reference to country of origin

Yemen Observer

The police of Hodiedah governorate on the western coast of Yemen, captured a large shipment of drugs, loaded in a van, on the highway linking al-Qanawes district to al-Zaydia district 60 kilometers to the north of Hodeidah city last Tuesday, said a security source in Hodiedah security office. The drugs shipment contained 361,000 tablets of Keptagon, a prohibited drug. (Read on …)

Yemen Post

The Specialized Penal Prosecution is still investigating with what security sources called the most dangerous drug dealer in Yemen Ali Abdullah bin Hitiqan Al-Saya’ri.

Al-Saya’ri was arrested by security forces last week in Shabwa province and was sent to Sana’a. A security source revealed that armed elements tried to intercept the security vehicles that transferred Al-Saya’ri and both sides exchange fire.

The exchange of fire resulted in killing 7 soldiers as their vehicle rolled over. The armed elements, boarding eight vehicles, fled the scene as soon as reinforcements arrived in the area without being able to release Al-Saya’ri.

The security forces arrested Al-Saya’ri last week in a check-point while he was boarding his Hummer vehicle.

In related news, the Specialized Penal Court received the file of another drug dealer accused of smuggling 715,000 drug pills who was arrested last June in Sana’a International Airport.

In an effort to trick security officials, the defendant hid the drugs inside water heaters. Similarly, 11 Iranian sailors are trailed over possessing and trading in drugs after being arrested early this year in Al-Maharah province.

Though it is not a consuming country, Yemen has turned into a transit country for drugs exported to Gulf countries from the Southeast of Asia. Security guards have seized big quantities of drugs this year in different ways.

but lets just call them all terrorists:

Yemen Observer

220 out of 1045 terrorist suspects were arrested by the Yemeni police in the year of 2007, according to a recent report issued by the Yemeni Ministry of Interior.

According to the report the 220 detainees were arrested under accusations of being involved in terrorist cases or in other organized and drug crimes. The report also revealed that other thousands of criminals were detained in 2007 for being involved in other different crimes.

The report stated that the security authorities could handle 34,386 crimes out of 36,894 at a rate of 63.2 percent.

According to the same report the number of premeditated crimes dropped by 96 percent compared to the year 2006 due to the firm implementation of the law that banned weapon-carrying in the main cities.

The report also revealed that 812 stolen cars out of 1,173 were brought back to their owners.

In 2007 the Yemeni authorities deported 1,390 Arabs and foreigners living illegally in the country, while more than 27,900 illegal immigrants were caught by the coastguard. The coastguard also registered more than 1,418 cases of smuggling refugees and water pollution cases in 2007. The report also stated that Yemeni authorities have given more than 32,000 residence identity cards for refugees from Africa and other Arab and Asian countries.

The United Nations granted the Yemeni Ministry of Interior its shield for the year 2008 in recognition for the great success it achieved in fighting drugs.

AFP

RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi border guards have seized almost a tonne of explosives and large quantities of arms and drugs on Yemen’s border over the past three months, making hundreds of arrests, Okaz newspaper said on Saturday.

The paper, quoting the guards, said 13 hand- and rocket-propelled grenades, 99 sticks of dynamite, 100 fuses, 12 detonators, more than 100 guns and 15,000 cartridges figured in the seizures.

Okaz praised security guards for their vigilance which had prevented the weapons and drugs from falling into the hands of “terrorists and other elements seeking to destabilise” the Saudi kingdom.

As many as 800 suspected arms and drugs dealers were arrested over the same period, along with 83 illegal immigrants, the report said.

Some 1,600 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of hashish, two million amphetamine pills and 280 bottles of alcohol, which is banned in the ultra-conservative Muslim country, were also seized.

Interior Ministry releases detained weapon dealers
Saturday, 12-July-2008
Almotamar.net – Yemen’s Ministry of Interior on Saturday released all merchants of weapon it has arrested in its campaign carried out by security authorities for closing own shops trading with weapons. The shops included in the campaign amounted to 234 until the end of last week.
Security sources said instructions of the Interior Ministry decided to keep weapons shops closed and continue the seizure of the weapons it captured in the campaign that covered all governorates of Yemen until to decide what to do about them later.

The Security Information Centre at the Ministry of interior sad that Ministry released weapons merchants after they submitted written pledges of not practicing again this type of activity that is violating the law and their pledge to report to security authorities whenever they are requested.

Yemen Observer

Police have arrested one of the most notorious drug traffickers in Rafdoum district of Shabwa province, said a police source on Sunday. They also halted the attempt of some gunmen to release the wanted traffickers by firing barrages of fire while being transported to Sana’a the capital.

One of the biggest drug traffickers in Yemen, named “Ali Abdullah bin Hatefan al-Suyeri’ was in his Hummer car at Ayn Bamabd security check-point, the source told al-motamar.net website . Al-Suyeri is high on the wanted list of the Specialized Criminal Court.

The police transferred him on Saturday to Sana’a accompanied by patrols lead by the commander of the seventh security zone in Shabwa province. Gunmen riding four vans and two other cars fired a barrage of fire on patrols, which led to a coup during their passing in Asilian area. The coup caused injury of seven soldiers who were transferred to Behan hospital.

The sources said that it had been strengthened by four patrols and other security check points to arrest and prosecute the gunmen.

In related news, the Public Administration of Anti-drug referred the case of a defendant accused of drugs trade to the Specialized Criminal Prosecution. The accused is a Syrian named Khalf Mohamed Helal, arrested in International Sana’a Airport on Sunday June 29 carrying 715,000 pills of drugs inside electric heaters.

The Ministry of Interior’s authorities captured during the last five months 17 tons and 970 kilograms of hashish, as well as 468,000 narcotic pills, stated a report issued by the ministry press office last month.

An official report announced that drug crimes increased in 2007 to 140 with 226 suspects, in comparison to 45 crimes and 86 suspects in 2005. The report disclosed that the number of Yemenis suspected of involvement in drug trafficking increased in 2007 to 204 compared to 81 in 2005. The numbers of foreign drug dealer suspects were 5 in 2005 and 22 in 2007.

The report added that 511 individuals were charged with drug dealing in the country in the last three years. The suspects included 469 Yemenis and 42 foreigners.

The amount of the seized hashish during the last three years amounted to 9,642 kilograms, with 3,004 kilograms seized in 2005, 2,082 in 2006 and 4,555 in 2007 together with the confiscation of 112 hashish plants.

The narcotic pills seized in the same period totaled 802,944; most of them were caught in 2007. In 2005, the number of pills seized was 791,469, however only 6,500 pills were confiscated in 2004, in addition to 535 liters of ether acetyl. The report announced that the total quantity of drugs destroyed in Sa’adah and Taiz in 2006 were 22.2 kilograms of heroin, 1,647,952 kilograms of hashish, 200 grams of hashish seeds, 41,039 narcotic pills and 7,856 amphetamine pills. The amount of drugs destroyed in al-Mahara in 2007 mounted to 1,542,500 kilograms of hashish.

Sources confirmed that disclosure of this amount of drugs comes in the light of security information received by the Yemeni Security Services and the General Administration of drug-policing in Saudi Arabia within the framework of security cooperation between Sana’a and Riyadh. The Yemeni Security Services had searched the boat more than once since its detention in the middle last February, but they did not find anything at that time.

The last bust had a street value of about 50 million dollars. And this one, like that one, comes in the context of regional security agreements. But the Yemeni Coast Guard is doing well for itself despite being under funded and under equipped:

Yemen seizes 1700 km of drugs

SANA’A, June 04 (Saba) – Yemeni coastguard forces have seized 1700 km of drugs while they were attempted to smuggle into some neighboring states, the state-run 26sep.net.

An official source was quoted as saying that the coastguard forces in the cooperation with UAE security services seized a Pakistani ship carrying on board 1700 km of the drugs off Yemeni coasts.

al-Motamar

Almotamar.net – On charges of bringing, exporting and transporting quantities of narcotics and hashish as well as money laundering, the Yemeni Specialised Criminal Court began Tuesday the trial of 16 defendants among them a Kuwaiti army captain and his son, at large, in addition to another defendant. (Read on …)

Syrian tried on charge of smuggling narcotics into Yemen
Saturday, 10-May-2008

al-Motamar
Almotamar.net – Specialised Yemeni First Instance Criminal Court on Saturday decided to postpone till next Saturday trial of a Syrian national accused of bringing into Yemen more than 450 thousand narcotic tablets Keptagon. The court decision was for allowing the defendant’s lawyer time to study the file of the case.

At the beginning of the court sitting statement of indictment was read out and it included that the defendant Faez Mustafa Dureid, 31, a Syrian nationality working as a tradesman, accused of bringing and possessing more than 450 thousand tablets of narcotic drug Keptagon captured at Sana’a Airport and hidden in sacks of sweets.

During the session held under chairmanship of Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution presented evidence of the case and confessions of the defendant in the reports. The charge mentioned the defendant brought sweets from Syria sent for him by a person called Mohammed Ali al-Khalidi living in an area of Madhaya situated between Syria and Lebanon. On his part the defendant is supposed to distribute the drugs to narcotics agents who are Abu Ali Shas, Yemeni and Abu Saleh, a Saudi.

Investigations revealed that the quantity of narcotics brought into Yemen since the beginning of January 2006 amounted to 26000 tablets. The defendant receives the amounts of drugs sent from Syria in the form of desserts and drug tablets are hidden inside.

In his response to the charge the defendant denied the accusation and the defence lawyer asked for photocopying the case file to be able to prepare his defence in the next sitting.

Saudi/ Yemeni cooperation:

Police arrest dangerous drugs trader

[01 May 2008]

SANA’A, May 01 (Saba)- Police have arrested a dangerous drugs trader, 26 September weekly reported on Thursday.

The weekly quoting a reliable source said that the man identified as M.M. H. is accused of drugs trading and hidden in Yemen for four years. The source said that this man has links with international tourist organizations. The arrest comes within security coordination between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Tourist or terrorist organization? Both make sense.

wow, 20,000 lbs, good for the Coast Guard, that guy better be careful.

So a guick search indicates two tons of hashish has a street value of about USD 10 million, so this is about 50 million dollars US in street value. This is a big bust. Who funded the transaction and what of the rest of the network beyond transport? The money laundering survey found police investigation as a science is not well understood in Yemen. Law enforcement often waits for someone to hand them case which they forward to the prosecutor, according to the survey. But the Coast Guard is doing well after all the training it seems.

26 September Net

Yemeni Coast Guard forces seized a Pakistani ship carrying on board 10 tons of hashish. Brigadier Ali Rase, Head of the Coast Guard told “26 September.Net” that the ship seized yesterday in about 35 kilometers off Mukalla’s coast.
He noted that the crew of Pakistani ship 16 people captured for conducting investigations and taking law measures in the Security Department in Mukalla.
In addition to that during the last month the Coast Guard forces seized Iranian ship carrying two tons of drugs with the crew, which carries the Iranian and Pakistani nationalities.

Yemen Post

On Thursday, a source indicated that Yemeni Coast Guard forces in collaboration with military ships belonging to coalition forces positioned in the Arab Sea managed to seize a Pakistani ship (Makran) boarding 10 ton of drugs.

The source added that the authorities conducted an investigation with the ship crew in preparations for completing other legal measures.

Yemen has turned into a transit country for drugs exported to Gulf countries, and the seized quantities of drugs reached by the end of 2007 115,000 kg of manufactured Hashish, 792,000 drug pills, 5 ton of Hashish and 2 kg of Heroin.

Security authorities arrested 225 smugglers in 2007 in 40 drug crimes, according to the General Administration for Fighting Drugs at the Ministry of Interior.

The administration also indicated that the number of those accused of smuggling drugs rose from 81 in 2005 to 204 in 2007. Similarly, the number of the non-Yemenis rose from 5 to 22.

In return, Yemeni security authorities face great hurdles in monitoring and controlling drug traders who use the country as a transit, especially when the country has a long coastline stretching for over 2,000 km.

Almotamar.net – The Specialised Criminal Court in Yemen approved Tuesday a first instance judgment giving a drugs smuggler 25 years in prison and 3 years imprisonment to another person condemned of his forging official signatures.

In the court sitting chaired by Judge Mohammed Hussein al-Hakimi, head of the court, the court approved the primary verdict against Abdullah Hadi Ayfan accused of transferring and possession of 123 kg of drugs.

The first instance court passed its decision on Abdullah Ayfan giving him 25 years imprisonment and confiscation and destruction of the drugs quantity. Security men have captured Ayfan in the mind of last year in Saada governorate in a car and in possession of 123kg of drugs before he could manage to smuggle the quantity to Saudi Arabia.

The court also endorsed a first instance verdict of three years imprisonment given to defendant Lutf Ali Hamoud al-Salami for confirmed condemnation of forging signature of the general prosecutor, the chairman of criminal prosecution Saeed al-A’aqil.

It is to be mentioned that al-0Salami was accused of forging signature and stamp of the general prosecutor for the purpose of raising money for prisoners aimed at deceit.

Yemen seizes illegal drugs ship

[24 March 2008]

SANA’A, March 24 (Saba) -A well-informed sources said that Yemeni coastguards seized on Monday at the Arab Sea a ship carrying about 1600 kg hashish in Yemen’s regional waters.

The sources said to Saba that the Coastguards Authority is currently investigating with a Pakistani crew of the ship.

The sources added that the coastguards of Aden Gulf had seized two big ships on aboard 32 Arab persons were practicing irregular fishing in Yemen’s regional waters.

Pakistani nationals