I posted an article about this awhile back, but it was not as comprehensive as this report. This is pure narco-terrorism, and should definitely cause alarm. Eeben wrote an excellent post about narco-terrorism, and I think this article is a good supplement to what he was talking about. –Matt
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Al Qaeda linked to rogue aviation network
By Tim Gaynor and Tiemoko Diallo Tim Gaynor And Tiemoko Diallo
Wed Jan 13, 2010
TIMBUKTU, Mali (Reuters) – In early 2008, an official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a report to his superiors detailing what he called “the most significant development in the criminal exploitation of aircraft since 9/11.”
The document warned that a growing fleet of rogue jet aircraft was regularly crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean. On one end of the air route, it said, are cocaine-producing areas in the Andes controlled by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. On the other are some of West Africa’s most unstable countries.
The report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, was ignored, and the problem has since escalated into what security officials in several countries describe as a global security threat.
The clandestine fleet has grown to include twin-engine turboprops, executive jets and retired Boeing 727s that are flying multi-ton loads of cocaine and possibly weapons to an area in Africa where factions of al Qaeda are believed to be facilitating the smuggling of drugs to Europe, the officials say.