Pubdate: Sun, 17 Nov 2002
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2002 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www2.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Aldrin Brown

2 OC MEN TARGETED IN DRUG PROBE

Agents Are Investigating Links Between Narcotics And Terrorist Groups.

Federal agents investigating links between drug money and international 
terrorists have targeted two Orange County men who allegedly participated 
in a nationwide narcotics-smuggling ring that sent profits to the Middle East.

The local suspects include Jubran Zalan Dighlawi of Orange, accused of 
importing millions of ephedrine-based cold and allergy pills from Canada 
for sale to drug cookers in Southern California. The over-the-counter 
medicine can be used to make methamphetamine. His right-hand man, according 
to federal authorities, was Suhail Mata Abdallah of Lake Forest. Abdallah 
remains at large. Dighlawi is in federal custody.

The Orange County men, both 32-year-old Palestinians, are among more than 
100 people indicted since January in connection with Operation Mountain 
Express, a yearlong government effort to shut down illegal suppliers of 
pseudoephedrine, a common antihistamine. "We have multi-source information 
indicating that some of the proceeds derived from the sale of the 
pseudoephedrine has gone back to the Middle East to support terrorist 
organizations," said Will Glasby, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement 
Administration's headquarters in Washington, D.C. But none of the 
defendants in Operation Mountain Express has been charged with 
terrorism-related charges, and some of their attorneys say their clients 
are being unfairly linked to terrorism.

Authorities in the United States have been scrutinizing profits from a 
variety of drug deals, scams and charities since the Sept. 11, 2001, 
attacks in response to President George W. Bush's mandate to cut off 
funding to terror groups.

In an unrelated sting, Justice Department officials announced this month 
the arrests of three men in Hong Kong who allegedly offered to trade heroin 
and hashish in exchange for Stinger anti-aircraft missiles they planned to 
deliver to the al-Qaida terror network.

Federal agents say they are trying to determine which of the alleged 
drug-ring members were involved in sending the money to the Middle East, 
Glasby said. DEA officials have refused to disclose the amount of money 
sent, which organizations might have benefited from the drug profits or 
which countries were involved.

Prosecutors have presented no evidence showing that the Orange County men 
were personally involved in the transfer of money to terrorists.

Dighlawi appeared Friday in federal court in San Diego and is scheduled to 
appear again next month.

Attorney Michael Pancer, representing Dighlawi, declined to discuss details 
of the case but denied that his client has any connection to terrorism.

"There have been no (terrorism connections) alleged by the government in 
our case," he said. "There are none that exist. It's just a straight-up 
drug case."

Pseudoephedrine is the most important ingredient in the making of 
methamphetamine. In 1992, Congress passed the Chemical Diversion and 
Trafficking Act, which imposed strict regulations on the sale of large 
quantities of pseudoephedrine.

Since then, Canada has become the leading supplier of pseudoephedrine to 
illegal drug makers in the United States, DEA officials said.

Dighlawi holds Nicaraguan travel documents under an alias and Abdallah 
holds a Jordanian passport.

The men were indicted in January, culminating an investigation by state and 
federal law enforcement agencies that secretly listened to telephone calls 
and relied upon confidential informants.

Besides San Diego, pseudoephedrine smuggling ring cases are being heard in 
Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, 
Riverside and Fresno.

Few details have been made public about the roles the Orange County 
defendants allegedly played in the smuggling ring.

In a 14-count indictment, federal prosecutors said that between May 29, 
2001, and Jan. 4, Dighlawi arranged for the delivery of 286 pounds of 
Canadian pseudoephedrine, valued at more than $325,000 on the black market.

"We characterize them as significant pseudoephedrine suppliers to Mexican 
national drug dealers in San Diego," said Special Agent Donald Thornhill of 
the Carlsbad DEA office, which investigated the case involving the Orange 
County men.

Abdallah is believed to have assisted in the delivery of the 
pseudoephedrine. Eleven other defendants - 10 of them Palestinians - also 
are named in the San Diego case.

Attorneys for several of the men have complained in court filings that the 
government's failure to produce more information about specific allegations 
is hampering their ability to defend their clients.

Some also have expressed concern that the ambiguous allegations of 
terrorist ties could make it difficult for their clients to receive fair 
trials.

"Those allegations are easily made because of the climate and the times 
we're in," said Matt Lees, whose client Towfic Yoseph Soury is among the 
Palestinian defendants charged in the San Diego case. "My client has no 
connection to terrorism. I would hate to have that shrouding my client 
during trial."

In a related case being tried in Los Angeles, other alleged participants of 
the ring often met in restaurants, parking lots and apartments throughout 
Orange County to set up deals for the purchase and sale of pseudoephedrine, 
court records showed.

Dighlawi and Abdallah disappeared from Orange County in the days after the 
indictments were handed down.

Dighlawi was arrested in Jordan in July on unrelated charges and was 
extradited to Turkey, where he was picked up by DEA agents and returned to 
Southern California.

Abdallah's whereabouts are unknown. A rented home on Jagger Street in Lake 
Forest where he lived is now occupied by a new tenant. A message left for 
the landlord was not returned.

A woman who answered the door at the $500,000 Meridian Street home in 
Orange where Dighlawi resided identified herself only as his sister but 
declined to comment, citing the pending criminal charges. Property records 
show the home was purchased in Sept. 2001 by a Jaime Y. Misleh. According 
to court documents, Dighlawi's Nicaraguan passport was issued under the 
name Yubran Yussef Salam Mesle.

DEA Seeks Help From Public To Find Fugitive

The Drug Enforcement Administration is asking for help in finding fugitive 
suspect Suhail Mata Abdallah. Anyone with information is asked to call 
(858) 616-4100.
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MAP posted-by: Beth