Drugs money fills al Qaeda coffers in West Africa

A little-noticed smoldering plane wreckage with traces of cocaine in a remote area of the West African state of Mali in which an Al Qaeda affiliate and nomadic rebels are active has focused attention on the emergence of the region as a major hub for the trafficking of drugs to Europe. So has the arrest of three al Qaeda operatives in Ghana, who were charged with narco-terrrorism in New York after being handed over to the US Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) and transported to the United States.

The two incidents raise the specter of increased cooperation between Islamic militants and drug trafficking Latin American militants and, according to US law enforcement officials, al Qae'da's evolvement into a global criminal organization.

US, European and African anti-drug and counter-terrorism officials fear that Islamist cooperation with groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could significantly fill the coffers of rebels operating across a crucial swathe of land that includes Algeria, Morocco, Mauretania, Mali, Chad and Niger, rich in uranium as well as oil and gas. Enhanced cash flow could enable the rebels to further undermine already weak, authoritarian regimes that face widespread discontent, restive nomadic populations, extreme poverty and an influx of Islamist thinking via satellite television and militant missionaries.

The wreckage of the Boeing 727 was discovered in the Mali desert in November, 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Gao. Investigators believe the plane was carrying up to 10 tons of cocaine, the largest Europe-bound Latin American drugs transit shipment via the Sahel so far known to authorities. Vehicle tracks in the sand have led the investigators to the conclusion that traffickers unloaded the plane's cargo at a makeshift airstrip before burning it. While they have not ruled out that the plane may have crashed, the investigators hope that three Mali nationals arrested while dismantling the wreckage and transported to the Mali capital of Bamako may shed light on what happened to the aircraft.

Venezuela turning a blind eye

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has been turning a blind eye to drug-trafficking operations