Sad day for Puerto Rico

US federal agents have arrested more than 70 Puerto Rican police officers on drugs-related charges.In all more than 120 people have been charged, including prison guards and soldiers. The US justice department said the arrests followed "the biggest police corruption investigation in the history of the FBI". About 750 FBI agents were flown into the US Caribbean territory to help round up the suspects. The justice department said that in all, 89 law enforcement officials had been detained: 60 members of the Puerto Rico police department, 16 municipal police officers and 12 prison officers.

Also arrested were three Puerto Rico national guard soldiers, two US army officers, and 30 civilians. The charges were the result of 125 undercover drugs transactions conducted by the FBI in Puerto Rico. Many of the detained police officers are accused of providing armed security for cocaine dealers in return for cash. "The justice department's commitment to rooting out and eradicating alleged corruption in our law enforcement ranks has never been stronger," said US Attorney General Eric Holder.

"This department has one message for anyone willing to abuse the public trust for personal gain: you will be caught, you will be stopped and you will be punished." The island of Puerto Rico is a major hub for smuggling drugs into the US. The reputation of its police department has already been tarnished by allegations of brutality and corruption.

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NYPD Intelligence making FBI blue

The body of the last Pakistani terrorist was hardly cold in November 2008 when representatives of the New York Police Department’s intelligence unit showed up in Mumbai. “We’re from the U.S. government,” they told Indian security officials, according to a senior former U.S. intelligence official who now does private business in the country. The Indians were left confused by who exactly was representing American intelligence in Mumbai, he said. Was it the CIA, FBI, or these men who said they were from “the U.S. government”?

The incident could not be independently verified, although NYPD chief Raymond W. Kelly was not shy about telling a congressional panel later that “within hours of the end of the attacks, the NYPD notified the Indian government that we would be sending personnel there. By December 5," he added, "our Intelligence Division had produced an analysis, which we shared with the FBI.” The FBI was not all that grateful, according to several former bureau and CIA sources. Indeed, tension between the FBI and the NYPD’s intelligence division has only deepened since then, according to a lacerating analysis by a veteran New York crime reporter.

• "A Failure to Communicate", NYPD Confidential, 4/19/10.
  

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FBI says no terrorism link for Reston man found with weapons

A Virginia man arrested in New Jersey with a cache of weapons, a map of a U.S. military installation and a traditional Middle Eastern headdress has no apparent terrorist ties, the FBI said Tuesday. Lloyd R. Woodson, 43, of Reston, is charged with multiple weapons offenses after being arrested Monday in Branchburg, N.J. Detectives searching his hotel room found the map, the red-and-white headdress, a grenade launcher, a semiautomatic assault rifle with a defaced serial number, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.

The federal Joint Terrorism Task Force was called in to investigate, but FBI Special Agent Brian Travers, a spokesman for the Newark field office, said the "preliminary assessment is that there is no terrorist link." Travers said agents based that tentative conclusion on "the fact that he has no connection to a known terrorist group and there doesn't seem to be any specific terrorist plot." Investigators said that Woodson's intentions remain unclear and that the investigation is continuing.

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Hezbollah cell smashed as FBI hits arms trade

The FBI has dismantled an alleged Hezbollah cell accused of arms dealing, depositing counterfeit money in a Canadian bank and selling a Canadian passport to support the Lebanese terrorist group.

Ten people from New York, New Jersey, Lebanon and Venezuela have been indicted and face up to 30 years in prison following an investigation that began in 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday.

The indictments link Hezbollah to a wide array of crimes, ranging from counterfeiting U.S. currency and money laundering to fencing stolen cars, cellular phones, laptops and Sony Play Station 2 systems.

The case also implicates Iran and Syria in Hezbollah's illicit arms network. The suspects allegedly tried to ship guns to Latakia, a Syrian port they said was controlled by Hezbollah. And Hezbollah officials in Iran were allegedly involved in the weapons purchase.

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Missing-Somali Case Gives Recruitment Clues To FBI

When federal authorities unsealed terrorism-related charges Monday against eight Minnesota men, they provided the first detailed account of how some two dozen young Somali-Americans were persuaded to leave the U.S. and join an Islamist insurgency in Somalia. While the recruitment methods are textbook and familiar — such as questioning the men's Muslim faith and dedication to Somalia — the effectiveness, and breadth, of the campaign has surprised intelligence officials.

"This is a unique case in the United States," the special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis office, Ralph Boelter, told NPR. "Folks in the United States traveled to a foreign country to attend a terrorist camp, run by al-Shabaab in this case. Some actually engaged in hostilities on behalf of al-Shabaab. We haven't seen anything quite like this before."

If the allegations are true, the FBI in Minneapolis has been investigating one of the largest alleged terrorist networks in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The numbers tell the story — some two dozen young men were recruited and at least 14 allegedly helped funnel the young men to the front lines in Somalia. The FBI is also investigating disappearances of young Somalis in San Diego, Boston and Ohio.

According to the charging documents, the recruitment effort in Minneapolis began back in 2007, a short time after Ethiopian troops had invaded Somalia. A cooperating witness allegedly told the FBI that he and other men met at various locations around the Twin Cities to talk politics. The conversation invariably turned to the Ethiopian invasion. The young men wanted to know what they could do to help.

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FBI Suspects Terrorists Are Exploring Cyber Attacks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at people with suspected links to al Qaeda who have shown an interest in mounting an attack on computer systems that control critical U.S. infrastructure, a senior official told Congress Tuesday.

While there is no evidence that terrorist groups have developed sophisticated cyber-attack capabilities, a lack of security protections in U.S. computer software increases the likelihood that terrorists could execute attacks in the future, the official warned.

If terrorists were to amass such capabilities, they would be wielded with "destructive and deadly intent," Steven Chabinsky, deputy assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

"The FBI is aware of and investigating individuals who are affiliated with or sympathetic to al Qaeda who have recognized and discussed the vulnerabilities of the U.S. infrastructure to cyber-attack," Mr. Chabinsky told the committee, without providing details. Such infrastructure could include power grids and transportation systems.

The control systems of U.S. infrastructure as well as money transfers are now connected directly or indirectly to the Internet. Hackers have been able to penetrate computer systems running components of the U.S. electric grid as well as divert bank transfers.

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Connecting the Dots!

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