Fear of terror links to global drug trade grow

But now, an abandoned, torched Boeing 727 found on a remote runway in Mali last month is prompting intelligence officials to look into whether terror groups might also be involved in the region’s massive drugs trade. Investigators agree the plane was used to ship cocaine from South America to Africa; the size of the plane (it’s got a maximum payload of 53,000 pounds to 57,000 pounds) shows that whoever organized the shipment has gone far beyond merely testing the route to see if it works. And the burnt plane’s location might be a sign of an even more sinister problem, reports the Observer:

Intelligence agencies are studying claims that the airstrip in Mali is under the control of one of al-Qaida's most powerful franchises, raising concerns that Africa's burgeoning role in the cocaine trade is now funding terrorism.

Professor Stephen Ellis of Amsterdam's Free University, an expert on West Africa's drugs trade, said that several reports suggested that the airstrip was in a region controlled by the group known as "al-Qaida in the land of the Islamic Maghreb". Previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, it was responsible for a spate of car bombings in Algeria in 2007 that left dozens dead, including at least 11 UN staff.

"Until now, there is no evidence they have had a direct interest in the drug trade," said Ellis. "But if the airstrip was controlled by al-Qaida, it suggests there is direct contact between them and Latin American drug interests."

A UK Home Office official said the burnt plane showed that drug traffickers were bold enough to be moving away from the West African coast (Mali is inland), saying:

"They are getting perilously close to that area [of Africa] where you've got concerns about how it could play into the hands of terrorist organisations. Are we getting to the point where we can see links between terrorist groups and drugs gangs?"

There’s no smoking gun yet, but if other parts of the world are anything by which to judge, the links between the two groups doing business in West Africa might already be very strong indeed.

Other regional news

FIFA calls in Interpol

International football body FIFA has called in Interpol to help with the fallout from the match-fixing scandal that came to light last month. Since FIFA can’t intervene in law enforcement or courts of various countries, they reckon Interpol – which helps make cross-border police cooperation possible – can step in. An Interpol official said they’re glad to help:

Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said: “We know that illegal sports betting is frequently controlled by organized crime groups willing to corrupt players and officials as well to use force and threats to collect unpaid debts.”

But fighting corruption will take more than a helping hand from Interpol. Declan Hill, author of The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime, recommends that FIFA get itself a well-funded and well-staffed integrity body, and a security unit with a hotline that players can call if approached by fixers. He wrote:

Watch in the next few weeks to see if soccer associations do anything concrete to combat match fixing. Unless FIFA and national soccer associations go beyond words and put reforms in place, once this current scandal is over, corruption will creep back into the game.

MEP calls for Mandelson investigation

A member of the European Parliament is making fresh calls for a conflict of interest investigation into a former EU trade commissioner whose relationship with aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska raised eyebrows last year. The scandal started when former commissioner Peter Mandelson, now Britain’s business secretary, was found to have spent at least one night on Deripaska’s yacht off Corfu last year. Which would be fine, but for the fact that Mandelson had twice had a hand in cutting European aluminum import duties – benefitting Deripaska’s company Rusal – and that Mandelson’s commission was in the middle of investigating aluminum foil tariffs at the time of his holiday. A European Commission spokesman said then that tariffs changes were not Mandelson’s idea, so a conflict of interest was not possible.

But last week it was revealed that Mandelson had personally signed the decision exempting Rusal from tariffs. Dr. Ingeborg Grassle, who sits on an EU committee that looks at commissioners’ behavior, wants to investigate. A Mandelson spokesman told the Independent that 27 commissioners, not Mandelson alone, made the decisions. But he also said commissioners were not subject to any code of conduct during Mandelson’s tenure.

In other news of possibly bent international transactions, Dow Jones reported that an audit of Hungary’s Magyar Telekom found several “illegitimate contracts” when sifting through various contracts in Macedonia and Montenegro. Company auditors White & Case found evidence that €7 million that supposedly paid for four consultancy contracts actually served what White & Case called “improper purposes.” In Macedonia earlier this decade, some former senior executives and Macedonian partners paid out €24 million to more than 20 suspect contracts, including one contract to a Cyprus-based consulting company. There was also evidence that some former employees destroyed documents related to the company’s business in Macedonia. Hungary’s version of the FBI is investigating, as is the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bulgaria: Accusations fly

Two prominent Bulgarians last week accused politicians and other power structures of being party to organized crime in the country. The leader of a right-wing coalition accused Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov of protecting organized crime, as Parvanov had earlier pardoned a man who last week was arrested, possibly in connection with blackmail and extortion. And politically connected corruption and organized crime have kept the police from being able to do their jobs, said Justice Minister Margarita Popova.

Italy: Mafia arrests, and possible changes to asset seizure

With last week’s arrest of two top Sicilian mafia leaders, Italian police have brought in more than half the people on the top-30 list of wanted fugitives – a total of 17 in just the past few months. The BBC reported:

Anti-Mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso said: "If we carry on like this, there will be no names left on the list of 30 most-wanted criminals."

Police also said they’d broken up a major mafia clan last week, after arresting several people and seizing €220 million worth of land, businesses, race horses and a London-based online betting firm.

Police did not immediately provide the number of arrests or suspects still at large, but said the 48-year-old head of the clan, Savino Parisi, was arrested overnight along with his closest associates. They are accused of attempted homicide, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, interfering with the bidding process for public contracts and money laundering.

The confiscated assets total around euro220 million ($330 million), officials said. The operation "showed the true face of criminality" in the southern Puglia region, national anti-Mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso said.

"It's a criminality that is projected in investments, in businesses that suck part of the resources of this land and invests it abroad," Grasso said at a news conference announcing the sweep.

Arresting fugitives and breaking up criminal clans is all well and good, but what happens to the assets of these men after they’ve been convicted? Until now laws have allowed the state to seize the assets and re-allocate them – particularly land – for social purposes. (The Libera Terra brand, for example, grows foodstuffs on land that once belonged to mob bosses.) But that could change, reported the Financial Times:

An amendment contained in the government’s 2010 budget, currently passing through parliament, would result in the auctioning of many – but not all – seized Mafia assets to the highest bidder.

Promoters of the bill say the current system is too slow and costly to the state. Auctions would provide the cash-strapped government with funds, which could in turn be used for charitable purposes.

Libera, an anti-Mafia umbrella group led by Luigi Ciotti, a Catholic priest, argues instead that the proposed law would be a huge step backwards, allowing fronts for the Mafia to buy back their assets on the cheap. A new signature campaign is under wasy.