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| Two-ton cocaine load shipped under Saudi prince's protection | ||
| 2005-03-09 | ||
| Btw, one Fabrice Monti, french investigative journalist, made a documented book about this case called "La coke saoudienne" ('Saudi snow') that said that : 1) There was a massive cover up and denial by french authorities & intelligence (case classified from 1999 to 2002), in exchange for defence contracts ; 2) There is a link with islamonutz, as the money gathered on the saudi's side was possibly used to finance saudi embassy's secret activities in France. MIAMI -- Federal prosecutors are tying a Saudi prince with diplomatic immunity to a 2-ton Colombian cocaine smuggling run from Venezuela to Paris on his personal aircraft and $10 million in artwork seized by drug agents pursuing the prince's ex-girlfriend.
Doris Mangeri Salazar, the ex-girlfriend and a Coral Gables real estate agent, and Ivan Lopez Vanegas, who was extradited from Colombia, are on trial on a drug conspiracy charge carrying a possible life sentence as the alleged brokers for Colombian traffickers and the prince who married into the Saudi royal family. The defense points the finger at Juan Gabriel Usuga Norena, who was indicted with Medellin cartel kingpin Fabio Ochoa, as a storytelling liar.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Selmore said there is plenty of physical evidence, such as passport stamps, hotel receipts and photos from a desert encampment, from 1998 meetings in Saudi Arabia, Aruba and Venezuela to plot the cocaine delivery to a stash house in suburban Paris in 1999. The interception of a cocaine courier at the Spanish border sent investigators backtracking to the French house, 1,769 pounds of cocaine and loads of suitcases used to smuggle the cocaine, Selmore said. "The facade of legitimacy that these two defendants have build around themselves began to crumble," she said. Lopez had approached Usuga with a proposition for flying cocaine on the plane used by Saudi prince and Swiss banker Nayef bin Sultan bin Fawwaz Al-Shaalan, Selmore charged. After marrying a royal princess, he flew the world with an entourage of dozens and diplomatic immunity that avoided luggage inspections. Co-defendants Al-Shaalan and Jose Maria Clemente, a Spaniard beyond the reach of U.S. extradition, agreed to evenly split their profits, Selmore said. The prince would pay a broker fee to Mangeri, his college sweetheart at the University of Miami, and Clemente owed Lopez. "It was a perfect fit," Selmore said. That is, until the bust on the trial run. Netted in the wide-ranging Colombian drug crackdown dubbed Operation Millennium, Usuga started helping U.S. drug investigators in 2000 and told them about the prince. Mangeri was arrested in 2002 and Lopez was extradited in 2003. "Usuga is a brilliant man believing that he is the smartest drug dealer in the history of the world," Soven said. "He must have seen the 'Scarface' movie 20 times. He thought he was invincible." Sentenced to less than three years in prison in the Ochoa indictment, which netted the kingpin more than 30 years, Usuga wanted even less time. From prison, he offered up the prince and his coterie but was running three money-laundering side deals that had him handling money in three drug investigations, Soven said. | ||
| Posted by:Anonymous5089 |
| #5 There's a Sura somewhere to cover all manner of hypocrisy and lies by the "important people" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-09 8:43:15 PM |
| #4 Asassin is derived from hashishin, a fighter who gwts all hoped up on hashish. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-03-09 8:29:16 PM |
| #3 Allan doesn't mind his faithful feeding the debilitating addictions of infidels. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-03-09 7:58:41 PM |
| #2 ..No dental work..he has bad teeth!! |
| Posted by: gums 2005-03-09 6:02:38 PM |
| #1 I thought Allan didn't like drugs. Honestly, I thought it was baking soda, and she was going to make me a chocolate cake... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-09 4:21:04 PM |