BUSTED: Jihad funding ring in Maryland
11 suspects arested, 9 are illegal aliens
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested six more suspects of Pakistani origin from Maryland on charges of money laundering.
On Thursday, 11 suspects were arrested in Maryland, including nine illegal immigrants from Pakistan. On the same day, US federal officials had indicted 39 people, including some Pakistani operators of convenience stores in Eastern Shore communities, the Dawn reported.
Saifullah Ranjha, one of the defendants, was also charged with attempting to finance the al Qaeda.
Commenting on the arrests, Pakistan’s Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani said that he did not know the details of this particular case, but similar cases in the past has shown that “American officials were often too zealous.”
Spanish officials said on that acting on tips received from the FBI, they had arrested two Pakistanis from Madrid and Barcelona.
According to police, Anar Muhammad Shan and Mehmood Sandhu, who are members of a terror group, have allegedly collaborated with their accomplices in the US to transfer money to alleged al Qaeda men in Pakistan.
The FBI, however, has claimed that no such money transaction took place:
:According to reports, 45 suspects have been arrested so far in this sting operation in North America and Europe.
“Federal prosecutors are seeking $5.1 million in criminal forfeitures and ownership interest in two convenience stores located in Snow Hill, which belonged to a Pakistani,” the daily reported.Federal prosecutors have identified one suspect as Mohammed Ahsan, a 49-year old Pakistani-American who lives in a Washington suburb Laurel.
As per the US officials, Ahsan was involved in laundering 520,000 dollars through his home in 2005 and 2006, believing he was helping drug dealers move their illicit money out of the United States.
Michelle reminds us of her report on the Baltimore terror cell.
September 25, 2007 - 06:34 AM on September 25th, 2007
First of all this story did not appear anywhere in the Maryland news media outlets (that I could find.) Of course Maryland for the most part is a blue state and would in fact hide such things. Be that as it may it’s no shocker that the guy from Laurel was laundering money. One of the teams of 9/11 hijackers shared a room here. There is a large muslim population.
As for Snow Hill, it sits about 15 minutes from Ocean City with easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing coming in and out of there would be a surprise.
I have no doubt these accusations are true.