DEA report: terrorists teaming with drug cartels

Islamic extremists embedded in the United States - posing as Hispanic nationals - are partnering with violent Mexican drug gangs to finance terror networks in the Middle East, according to a [2005] Drug Enforcement Administration report.

...These terrorist groups, or sleeper cells, include people who speak Arabic, Spanish and Hebrew and, for the most part, arouse no suspicion in their communities.

"It is very likely that any future 'September 11th' type of terrorist event in the United States may be facilitated, wittingly or unwittingly, by drug traffickers operating on both sides of the United States-Mexico border," the DEA report says.

..."Hearings I held in Laredo [Texas] last year and this DEA report show that our southern border is a terrorist risk," [Rep. Ed Royce of California] said. "Law enforcement has warned that people from Arab countries have crossed the border and adopted Hispanic surnames. The drug cartels have highly sophisticated smuggling and money-laundering networks, which terrorists could access..."

Immigration_terror · Wed, 08/08/2007 - 09:28 · · Importance: 1