Bin Laden+Godfather

[Lewis 0]

FBI worries about an Osama-mobsters link

By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer

4 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The FBI's top counterterrorism official harbors lots of concerns: weapons of mass destruction, undetected homegrown terrorists and the possibility that old-fashioned mobsters will team up with al-Qaida for the right price.

Though there is no direct evidence yet of organized crime collaborating with terrorists, the first hints of a connection surfaced in a recent undercover FBI operation. Agents stopped a man with alleged mob ties from selling missiles to an informant posing as a terrorist middleman.

(...)

There are the five reputed La Cosa Nostra families in New York, Russian criminal enterprises from Brighton Beach in the New York borough of Brooklyn to Moscow, and the emerging Asian crime syndicates that operate in many Islamic countries with al-Qaida offshoots.

A contract study produced recently for the Pentagon and obtained by the AP warned that the potential for organized crime assisting terrorists is growing.

"Although terrorism and organized crime are different phenomena, the important fact is that terrorist and criminal networks overlap and cooperate in some enterprises," the study said. "The phenomenon of the synergy of terrorism and organized crime is growing because similar conditions give rise to both and because terrorists and organized criminals use similar approaches to promote their operations."

The traditional mafia has highly developed networks for acquiring goods and services and money, all for a price.

The mob's potential interest in helping a terrorist has nothing to do with ideology or sympathy but with greed, said Matt Heron, head of New York FBI's organized crime unit.

"They will deal with anybody, if they can make a buck," Heron said. "They will sell to a terrorist just as easily as they would sell to an order of Franciscan monks. It's a business relationship to them."

"If the mob has explosives and a terrorist wants them and they have the money, they could become instant friends," he said.

(...)

"I am aware of a high-level Mafia figure, who was cooperating with authorities, being asked if the Mafia would assist terrorists in smuggling people into Europe through Italy," D'Amuro said. "He said, 'The Mafia will help who ever can pay.'"

Officials said they have no specific evidence that such a relationship has been cemented. But concerns were heightened last year after an Armenian immigrant was arrested in New York for allegedly leading a plot to sell military weapons to an FBI informant posing as a middleman for terrorists.

Arthur Solomonyan had claimed to be able to deliver shoulder-fired missiles from his connection in Russian organized crime to the informant, who claimed to have ties to al-Qaida, federal prosecutors said. Solomonyan and 17 others in New York, Florida and California were charged in the case.

Solomonyan is scheduled for trial this month. His lawyer, Seth Ginsberg, said he plans to "vigorously contest" the charges and call the government's confidential informant to the stand to challenge his motives. The Italian, Russian, and Asian mafia remain active, particularly in New York, even though the government has successfully prosecuted numerous figures in recent years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061001/ap_on_...ror_and_the_mob

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Likely, but the tie-up will be with such as Crips/Bloods/MS-13 than with "old-school" Mafia (who have been burned by collaborations with Latino-based and Asiatic-based gangs).

[Heracles 417]

Interesting article. Based on this article certain people and organizations, yes like the ACLU, should feel ashamed if something happens since they are protesting and filling law suits, in the ACLU's case, against the government for taping phone lines. Then thanks to the NYT, the criminals now know not to use phones as means of communications.

When will the liberal laws in America give power back to the people rather than the criminals, gangs and mobsters??

Edited October 2, 2006 by Infidel

[Lewis 0]

Interesting article. Based on this article certain people and organizations, yes like the ACLU, should feel ashamed if something happens since they are protesting and filling law suits, in the ACLU's case, against the government for taping phone lines. Then thanks to the NYT, the criminals now know not to use phones as means of communications.

When will the liberal laws in America give power back to the people rather than the criminals, gangs and mobsters??

C'mon, criminals have long known how to communicate effectively in order to avoid the authorities and they will continue to do so. Tapping phone lines of suspected criminals is nothing new, it has been done since the invention of the telephone and the criminals have constantly adapted with the changes in technology.

It's not the NYT times or ACLU's fault that mobsters or criminals exist.

Back to the article, do you think it is a possiblity that the Mafia or other types of gangs could team up with potential terrorist organizations?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

...It's not the NYT times or ACLU's fault that mobsters or criminals exist.

Back to the article, do you think it is a possiblity that the Mafia or other types of gangs could team up with potential terrorist organizations?

I think your tense is wrong in the question (asking "...possibilty...could?"; more likely, "already exists, find it").

[Heracles 417]

Back to the article, do you think it is a possiblity that the Mafia or other types of gangs could team up with potential terrorist organizations?

Yes. Especially south American gangs like MS13..

I think the US should use this to kill two birds with one stone. That is prevent terrorism and dismantle gangs within the US.