| (WASHINGTON) - U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented today on the indictment of Jamal Yousef, a former member of the Syrian military charged with selling military-grade weapons to the FARC in Colombia in exchange for cocaine. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:
“I thank U.S. law enforcement personnel for their efforts in bringing charges against Yousef.
“This case illustrates the danger of extremists from nations such as Syria and Iran extending their operations into the Western Hemisphere and further highlights the increasing nexus between narcotrafficking and terrorist financing.
“This is a critical step in our efforts to root out these multiple threats to security and stability in our Hemisphere.”
Background: According to the Superseding Indictment, Yousef was involved in a conspiracy to sell military-grade weapons to the FARC in exchange for 938 kilograms of cocaine. Negotiations between confidential informants posing as FARC representatives and Yousef’s co-conspirators described the weapons-in-question as including 100 AR-15 assault rifles, 100 M-16 assault rifles, 10 M-60 machine guns, C-4 explosives, 2,500 hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades, and further information uncovered that Yousef also offered to sell surface-to-air missiles to the FARC.
In full cooperation and with the assistance of INTERPOL, Yousef was apprehended by officials in Honduras and transferred to the United States.
The FARC has been designated by the U.S. Government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
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