Three people believed to be associates of al-Qaida have been taken into federal custody and accused of dropping off drugs in Africa to fund future terrorist attacks. The three men were arrested in Ghana and mark the first time the U.S. has been able to link drug trafficking in Africa to al-Qaida.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. has long been concerned about close ties between militants and the heroin trade in Afghanistan but this case in African comes as a surprise and shows an expansion of the organization’s ties around the world.
Court papers say the DEA infiltrated the group by using informants posing as supporters of Colombia’s rebel army. When an informant asked how the men planned on moving the drugs securely through Africa, one of them confirmed that al-Qaida would provide them protection.
The men are currently in Federal custody and being held without bail.
