Intelligence

Al-Qaida recruiting local U.S. gang ties

Al-Qaida recruiting local U.S. gang ties - (United Press International)

Washington, DC, Sep. 28 (UPI) -- Senior al-Qaida members reportedly are recruiting help from a violent Salvadoran gang with a history of smuggling people into the United States.

Al-Qaida recruiting local U.S. gang ties

Washington, DC, Sep. 28 (UPI) -- Senior al-Qaida members reportedly are recruiting help from a violent Salvadoran gang with a history of smuggling people into the United States.

The Washington Times reports U.S. officials said Adnan El Shukrijumah was spotted in July in Honduras meeting with leaders of El Salvador's notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, which immigration officials said has smuggled hundreds of Central and South Americans into the United States via the Mexican border.

The United States has a $5 million reward posted for the capture of El Shukrijumah.

Authorities said al-Qaida terrorists want to take advantage of a lack of detention space within the Department of Homeland Security, which has forced immigration officials to release non-Mexican illegal aliens back into the United States rather than return them to their home countries.

The Salvadoran gang, known to law enforcement authorities as MS-13 because members identify themselves with tattoos of the number 13, is thought to have established a major smuggling depot in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas.

September 28, 2004 at 11:29 PM in Al Qaeda | Permalink | TrackBack (0) | Top of page | Blog Home