Maybe you should reconsider that trip to the souq in Marrakech

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has made a flourishing business out of kidnapping foreigners in the western Sahara and Sahel. It's sort of like the landlocked version of the Somali pirates that always feature on the news. Millions of dollars are changing hands as governments and corporations are meeting the demands of the terrorists! Yes, terrorists. It seems to me that it's sort of like not disciplining a recalcitrant child, the more you do nothing and pander to his or her wishes, the worse off the community becomes. One U.S. military official has said, "Paying ransom for hostages held by al Qaeda in Africa just encourages more kidnappings and hands the militant network a global propaganda boost!"

Dealing with militants in this fashion also provides a propaganda boost to terrorist and teorrism, allowing AQIM to taunt the French government, saying the release of the Spanish hostages was a: "lesson for the French secret services to take into consideration in the future," referring to failed Mauritanian-French raid in Mali in July that aimed to rescue French hostage Michel Germaneau and in which seven AQIM members were killed. They had the chance to act responsibly and use their heads with the mujahedeen and avoid the madness and anger that led to the deaths of their citizens."

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Cancun, Mexico, bar bombed; 8 dead

Eight people died early Tuesday after attackers hurled several Molotov cocktails into a Cancun, Mexico, bar, the state attorney general said. Six women and two men, all Mexican nationals and employees of the tavern, were killed in the 1:30 a.m. strike, now under investigation by judicial police, according to a release from Francisco Alor Quezada, attorney general for the state of Quintana Roo. Eight men hurled the explosives at the bar and fled in vehicles, the release said. No shots were fired. Although the tavern is just 5 kilometers from the city's tourist stretch, it sits apart from the area frequented by tourists, and the clientele is composed of locals, it said. Four of those slain died of burns and the others of asphyxiation, the release said.

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Mexico nabs U.S.-born drug lord 'La Barbie'

Mexican authorities captured a legendary Texan on Monday who is accused of a bloody climb to the top echelon of one of the hemisphere's most powerful drug cartels. Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie" for his looks, faces a slew of charges in Mexico, but also is wanted in the United States, where he has been indicted for smuggling thousands of pounds of cocaine into this country. The U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $2 million for his capture. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle late Monday, a Houston lawyer representing Valdez, 37, said he fears his client will be tortured or worse before he can be returned to the United States for trial. "I do not think anyone is safe in the hands of the Mexican military" defense attorney Kent Schaffer said. "Something is going to happen."

Most recently, Valdez was indicted in Atlanta on federal charges he imported and distributed thousands of kilograms of cocaine from 2004 to 2006. U.S. prosecutors contend the drugs were often smuggled north through Texas and then on to Atlanta, which is a hub for cartel activity in the Southeastern United States. In turn, millions of dollars in proceeds were sent back to Mexico a similar way, according to court papers. Valdez is said to have been a standout high-school football player in the Texas-Mexico border city of Laredo, where a coach nicknamed him Barbie for his hair and eye color. It is unusual for an American to climb so high in the ranks of Mexican organized crime, but not unprecedented.

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Rethinking American Options on Iran

Rethinking American Options on Iran is republished with permission of STRATFOR.

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Blood Secrets: Chronicles of a Crime Scene Reconstructionist

I haven't had the chance to read it yet, as my waking hours never seem to provide enough time to turn good pages, but retired law enforcement analyst Rod Englert looks to have a winner on his hands with Blood Secrets. Part of the Multnomah County (Orgeon) Sheriff's Office special cold case team he now devotes himself full time "to blood pattern analysis and crime scene reconstruction". For a well-written and informative book review see Peggy Mullen's piece in The Oregonian.

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Terror analysis: The danger of dismissing the absurd

There is endless fodder for jokes, from the RCMP’s name for the investigation — Project Samosa — to speculation about the doctor-terrorism-suspect moonwalking into court. The arrests this week of four men police say were involved in a bomb plot — or in the words of one investigator, were hoping to bring the war in Afghanistan here — seem both chilling and ridiculous. While none of the allegations has been proven in court, even trying to fathom that 28-year-old pathologist and failed Canadian Idol contestant Dr. Khurram Sher could be part of a terrorism conspiracy is difficult. Soon after Sher’s arrest early Thursday, a YouTube clip of him awkwardly singing and dancing across a Montreal stage for the reality show aired around the world.

But those who study or investigate what police common refer to as “homegrown terrorism” caution against dismissing cases that appear too absurd to be true. “On the surface, it appears completely counterintuitive. It appears these people have bought into the Canadian or Western dream, or whatever you call it,” said Michael King, a McGill University PhD student researching the psychology of radicalization. “But for me, as a psychologist anyway researching this, it almost makes sense, because there seems to be a personality characteristic that predisposes people to radicalize — and that is sensation-seeking.”

• "Analysis: How terror came home to roost", Montreal Gazette, 8/28/2010.
  

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Bikies and triads in waterfront drug conspiracy

One of the nation's biggest investigations into organised crime has exposed an international drug importation syndicate with links to the Comanchero bikie gang, Chinese triads and corrupt Australian officials. Operation Hoffman, a landmark multi-agency investigation led by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC), has also revealed the deep links between drug importers and rogue Australian maritime workers.

NSW Police have identified a group of drug-importing Sydney port workers with government maritime security cards who have been active since 2004. In Victoria, authorities have uncovered links between corrupt Melbourne port workers, the Hells Angels and prominent Italian criminals. Law enforcement agencies in NSW recently updated a list of 150 organised crime organisations that need targeting.

The two-year Operation Hoffman has found multimillion-dollar crime syndicates are operating like multinational enterprises, evading police by drawing on local and overseas resources and the latest technology. It has led to big ecstasy, heroin and crystal methamphetamine drug busts across Australia, the biggest drug bust in Tonga and the discovery of a bikie armoury, including automatic weapons and imitation police equipment, in May last year. Those arrested include alleged drug runners with links to the Chinese triads and the Perth president of the Comanchero, Steven Milenkovski.

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Mexican massacre investigator found dead

The body of an official investigating the massacre of 72 Central and South American migrants killed in a ranch in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas was found today dumped beside a nearby road alongside another unidentified victim, according to local media. Earlier, two cars exploded outside the studios of the national TV network Televisa in the state capital, Ciudad Victoria. There were no casualties, but the blasts added to a growing sense of fear in the aftermath of the worst single act of violence in the country's raging drug wars.

Meanwhile, investigators under armed guard continued the process of identifying the victims, with 20 named by midday on Friday, local officials said. The migrants, 14 of them women, came from at least four countries, including Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil and Ecuador. They were found bound and blindfolded by the wall of a barn after navy personnel stormed the ranch on Tuesday.

The massacre was discovered after an Ecuadorian migrant, who had been left for dead with a neck wound, escaped. Luis Freddy Lala Pomavilla, 18, found his way to a navy road checkpoint. He said the migrants had been kidnapped by armed men who identified themselves as belonging to the Zetas, one of the cartels fighting for supremacy in the state. He said the killing began after they refused offers to work for the cartel.

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Russian subs stalk Trident in echo of Cold War

A specially upgraded Russian Akula class submarine has been caught trying to record the acoustic signature made by the Vanguard submarines that carry Trident nuclear missiles, according to senior Navy officers. British submariners have also reported that they are experiencing the highest number of "contacts" with Russian submarines since 1987. If the Russians are able to obtain a recording of the unique noise of the boat's propellers it would have serious implications for Britain's nuclear deterrent. Using its sophisticated sonar, the Akula would be able to track Vanguards and potentially sink them before they could launch their Trident D4 missiles.

The Daily Telegraph has learnt that, within the past six months, a Russian Akula entered the North Atlantic and attempted to track a Vanguard. The incident has remained secret until now. It is understood that the Russians stood off Faslane, where the British nuclear force is based, and waited for a Trident-carrying boat to come out for its three-month patrol to provide the Continuous At Sea Deterrent. "The Russians have been playing games with us, the Americans and French in the North Atlantic," a senior Navy commander said.

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Missing SANDF weapons 'alarming'

In another worrying loss of armaments from a major power, six rocket launchers and four mortars are among weaponry that has gone missing from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) arsenals over the past year, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu revealed on Monday. The missing launchers include three 88mm anti-tank weapons, which can be used to knock out armoured vehicles. In a written response to a parliamentary question, Sisulu gave details of weapons that had "been stolen or gone missing" from the SANDF over the past three years.

According to a table included in the reply -- titled "Firearm losses of the DOD -- weapon losses during 2009 included:

• five 9mm pistols;
• six 5.56mm rifles;
• seven 7.62mm rifles;
• one 7.70mm rifle;
• six 0.22 (inch) rifles;
• four 60mm mortars;
• one 81mm mortar;
• three 88mm rocket launchers;
• two 40mm rocket launchers; and
• one 70mm rocket launcher.

The table did not indicate whether the stolen or missing launchers and mortars included rockets and shells. The losses were "alarming", Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald, who posed the question to Sisulu, said on Monday. "It is alarming to see these figures. The fact that 88mm rocket launchers, which can be used against tanks and vehicles, have been stolen is quite disturbing. "The question is: What do those who have these weapons want to use them for? What will people do with these rocket launchers?" Groenewald said the reply also showed a total of 87 7.62mm rifles and 47 5.56mm rifles had been stolen from the SANDF since 2007. "If we look at cash-in-transit heists, these are exactly the sort of weapons criminals use." Terrorists could also find practical use throughout Africa for such weaponry.

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Militants Overtake India as Top Threat, Says Pakistan's ISI

Pakistan's main spy agency says homegrown Islamist militants have overtaken the Indian army as the greatest threat to national security, a finding with potential ramifications for relations between the two rival South Asian nations and for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. A recent internal assessment of security by the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's powerful military spy agency, determined that for the first time in 63 years it expects a majority of threats to come from Islamist militants, according to a senior ISI officer.

The assessment, a regular review of national security, allocates a two-thirds likelihood of a major threat to the state coming from militants rather than from India or elsewhere. It is the first time since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947 that India hasn't been viewed as the top threat. Decades into one of the most bitter neighborly rivalries in modern history, both countries maintain huge troop deployments along their Himalayan border. "It's earth shattering. That's a remarkable change," said Bruce Hoffman, a counterterrorism specialist and professor at Georgetown University. "It's yet another ratcheting up of the Pakistanis' recognition of not only their own internal problems but cooperation in the war on terrorism

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CBI Launches New Cold Case Website

More than 1,700 cold cases in Colorado are now online in hopes of attracting new leads for investigators. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation released the cold case database on its website. The site gives information that's already available to the public, but now in a more accessible place. The CBI hopes the site will help investigators solve some of Colorado's cold cases. It says making the information easier to find could prompt witnesses to come forward. "Someone who may have information where that time has passed now they feel more comfortable coming forward for whatever reason," Audrey Simkins with Criminal Intelligence said. The site gives information on unsolved murders, missing people and unidentified remains. The cases date back to 1970.

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61 trucks loaded with 300 tons of explosives go missing in central India

More than 60 trucks full of explosives have mysteriously vanished in India, and officials there are worried that the bad guys may have hijacked the shipment. It seems incredulous to me that such a large number of trucks could vanish from the face of the earth and that the security of the explosives was so lax. 300 tons of explosives is an incredible amount to go missing without anyone knowing where they are and what they are now going to be used for. The explosives could be anywhere in the region by now, and targeting almost anything.

China's Xinhua News reported the incident: Some 61 trucks loaded with over 300 tons of explosives have gone missing in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a senior police official said Friday. "The trucks were sent from a state-owned factory, Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Limited, in Dholpur to a private company called Ganesh Explosives in the state's Sagar district. But it never reached there," the official said. A massive search is on to track down the trucks as fear is mounting that if the explosives, including detonators and gelatin sticks, reach the wrong hands it could be devastating, he added.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Limited has claimed that it can't be blamed for this disappearance as it sent explosives only in trucks authorized by the company. "We hand over the explosives to those who have the license. And they then dispatch it on their truck. Now, whatever happens to that explosive thereafter, we are not responsible for that," Y.C. Upadhyay of the company said.

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Digital drug peddlers target teens with iDoses

Spaced-out adolescents in headphones litter YouTube, some panting and others wincing as they listen to droning, pulsating soundtracks known as iDoses. They have fallen victim to an insidious new digital drug culture that preys on vulnerable young teens with money to burn. With nothing but an mp3 player and an internet account they can can legally download 'binaural' audio downloads that claim to deliver a “high” that can mimic drugs like LSD and Crystal Meth.

The prices of iDoses range from $US2.75 for a standard "heroin" track to $US199 to open up the "Gates of Hades", which promises listeners an enticing package of “Smoke and torment. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Death. Destruction”.mWhile there is little scientific evidence to back up some of the outlandish claims on iDose websites – some schools in the US have written letters to parents and banned iPods and phones to block students from accessing them. National and NSW education officials say they have not yet seen any reports of school children downloading “digital drugs” in Australia, but drug abuse experts say it is only a matter of time before the craze catches on here.

“Safe, effective, and legal alternative to recreational and prescription drugs,” is how one I-Doser website describes its wares, but drug abuse experts are not concerned so much with the content of the downloads as the drug culture they promote to young and susceptible minds. “We are seeing drug culture seep more and more into the youth market, where people can make a quick buck. That is a very sad part of this that they are targeting the group most vulnerable - the young who see this as being a cool thing to do,” said Paul Dillon, founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia.

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Sovereign citizens — a 21st Century counter culture

They call themselves sovereign citizens, U.S. residents who declare themselves above state and federal laws. Many don’t register children’s births, carry driver’s licenses or recognize the court system. Some peddle schemes that use fictional legal loopholes to eliminate debt and avoid foreclosures. A few such believers are violent: Two police officers in Arkansas died in a shootout in May after stopping an Ohio sovereign citizen and his son.

As many as 300,000 people identify as sovereign citizens, the Southern Poverty Law Center found in a study to be published Thursday that was obtained by The Associated Press. Hate group monitors say their numbers have increased thanks to the recession, the foreclosure crisis, the growth of the Internet and the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Adherents expect the current American system of government to end one way or another.

“I’m the Patrick Henry of the 21st century. I’m here to regain our freedom,” James McBride said in a jailhouse interview. “I’m going to, or die trying.” At the heart of their belief system: The government creates a secret identity for each citizen at birth, a “straw man,” that controls an account at the U.S. Treasury used as collateral for foreign debt. File enough documents at the right offices and the money in those accounts can be used to pay off debt or make purchases worth thousands of dollars.

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