Terrorism
The Tamil Tigers, a terrorist organization formerly known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has established fund-raising branches in 12 different countries, including the Untied States.
The Tamil Tigers, a terrorist organization formerly known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has established fund-raising branches in 12 different countries, including the Untied States.
This group has set up show in many different countries to help them bankroll and equip their three decade old plan to violently overthrow the government of Sri Lanka.
This fundraising effort is meant to help them purchase millions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft weapons, automatic rifles, grenade launchers, ammunition, explosives and other military equipment.
They have established operations in Maryland, New York and New Jersey.
Last year in New York, the FBI arrested a man described as a "director of US operations, his name was Karunakaran Kandasamy, he was accused of raising money and setting up meetings between US money men and Sri Lanka terrorist operatives.
According to the Washington Times article, that 32 page complaint against Kandasamy, said that the "LTTE relied on "sympathetic Tamil expatriates" in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, France and other countries to raise and launder money; smuggle arms, explosives, equipment and technology to Sri Lanka; obtain intelligence about the Sri Lankan government; and spread propaganda."
The FBI describes this terror group as one of the "most dangerous and deadly" extremists organizations in the world. They further state that the LTTE has provided inspiration to terror groups worldwide and that the group had "placed operatives right here in our own back yard, discreetly raising money to fund its bloody terrorist campaign overseas."
The US Department of Justice issued a release when the complaint against Kandasamy was unsealed, in April of 2007, and they pointed to eleven other related indictments issued in the Eastern District of New York on charges relating to the material support of the LTTE.
Eleven defendants were previously indicted in the Eastern District of New York on charges relating to the material support of the LTTE. One indictment, United States v. Sathajhan Sarachandran, et al., charges five individuals with attempting to purchase several dozen surface-to-air missiles and other military arms and equipment from an undercover FBI agent in Queens, New York. The second indictment, United States v.Thavarajah Pratheepan et al., charges the defendants with participating a wide-ranging conspiracy to provide material support to the LTTE through the procurement of military arms and technology, attempting to bribe purported U.S. State Department officials to remove the LTTE from the foreign terrorist organization list and to sell classified intelligence concerning the LTTE, fundraising, and the LTTE’s covert payment of a U.S. Congressman’s trip to LTTE-controlled territory.
That Congressman was Danny Davis (D-IL.) trip stirred up controversy by his accepting a trip to Sri Lanka in 2005 on behalf of the Tamil minority there, paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers. Davis said that he was unaware that the Tigers were the source of the trip's funding.
Another arrest and conviction which led to a 57 month prison sentence for a man caught in Maryland, Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, a Sri Lankan national, who was convicted of support to the LTTE and the attempted exportation of arms and munitions and in that criminal complaint and according to the plea deal he made, he conspired to export $900,000 worth of machine guns, ammunition, surface-to-air missiles, night-vision goggles and other military weapons to Sri Lanka.
According to his plea deal, if delivery of the first purchase was successful, a second order would have been placed for $15 million.
A senior terrorism and insurgency analyst at Rand Corp., Peter Chalk, says that the group's venture into the US to raise funds was "probably an experiment" and the group may have learned a lesson from all the US arrests of their members.
Chalk goes on to say that, "the LTTE has always had a large, prolific international network and has been quite prolific in Canada for fundraising."
Canadian authorities say that the LTTE have blackmailed many former Sri Lankans for money, by threatening their families in Sri Lanka.
The last word goes to FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon, who heads the bureau's New York field division, who says, "We can no sooner allow terrorists to raise funds here than we would allow them to carry out acts of terrorism here."
H/T Michelle Malkin.
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