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(S) Al-Qa'ida: An Emerging Narco-Supported Terrorist Group?
FROM:
Deputy SINIO for International Crime and Narcotics (S17)
Run Date: 08/19/2004
FROM:
Deputy SINIO for International Crime and Narcotics (S17)
(S) As the United States conducts operations along the Afghanistan-Pakistan
border area to capture or kill senior al-Qa'ida leaders, including Usama bin
Laden (UBL) and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and to disrupt Muslim extremists'
operations in the region, two key intelligence questions have yet to be
adequately answered -- is al-Qa'ida actively involved in the extensive multibillion dollar drug trade in and around Afghanistan and how much benefit
does al-Qa'ida derive from this trade?
(S) These questions need to be better understood and answered if the United
States Government is to be effective in disrupting the activities of Muslim
extremists and creating a stable Afghanistan government. As al-Qa'ida is a
nebulous organization that apparently has morphed into a more "flat" vice
hierarchical organization, efforts to understand the organization's level of
participation in narcotics trafficking and identify the personnel involved are
highly problematic. Despite this ambiguity:
there appears to be an intentional nexus of convenience between
narcotics producers/traffickers and low-level al-Qa'ida operatives;
there is no intelligence indicating mid- or high-level al-Qa'ida
personnel are involved in the drug trade; and,
key drivers and motivators for further al-Qa'ida involvement in the
drug trade include restricting the traditional terrorism sources of
revenue as well the elimination of its leadership.
(U//FOUO) Interested in learning more? A recent SINIO Council Perspective
examined this issue in detail, and you can view the complete text at:
.
(U//FOUO) POC for this topic is
International Crime and Narcotics --
, Deputy SINIO for
@nsa.
SERIES:
(U//FOUO)
SINIO Council
Intelligence
Issues
1. China:
Modernizing
and
Mobilizing
Its
Strategic
Strike
Capabilities
2. China: The
Near-Term
Potential for
Economic,
Political,
and Social
Crises
3. Al-Qa'ida:
An
Emerging
NarcoSupported
Terrorist
Group?
4. Venezuela's
President
Chavez:
Castro's
Ideological
Successor
5. Lebanon:
Domestic
Crisis
Averted, for
Now, in
Wake of
Prime
Minister's
Resignation
6. SIGINT
Monitors
Global
Spread of
Avian Flu
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108