DEA arrests allege link between drug cartels and al-Qaeda

Oumar Issa, Harouna Toure and Idress Abelrahman -- will be charged with conspiracy to commit acts of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization after they allegedly agreed to transport as much as 1,000 kilos of cocaine. Allegedly, the drugs were earmarked for western European countries and possibly the United States. 

The cocaine interdiction and arrests were facilitated along the traffickers' favorite route through West Africa to North Africa that serves as a launch point for export to Europe. The suspects were taken into custody after an intense undercover investigation in which informants and agents posed as Colombian narco-terrorists who claimed they shared hatred for America with the African suspects.

According to the NACOP report, Colombian drug kingpins use the same transshipment techniques in Africa that they've successfully used in Latin America. The Colombian traffickers' utilized al-Qaeda's  protection services in order to make certain shipments arrived at their destinations.

DEA officials report that in this case they were able to infiltrate the drug operation during the negotiations. The undercover DEA agents and informatants indicated they were associated with the Colombia terrorist group FARC and could protect the shipment from West Africa to North Africa and ultimately to Spain.