Uk Police Arrest Seven On Suspicion Of Funding Terrorism

[News_Editor]

UK police arrest seven on suspicion of funding terrorism < br /> 2012-05-02 08:18:09 GMT+7 (ICT) LONDON, ENGLAND (BNO NEWS) -- British police on early Tuesday morning arrested seven people on suspicion of financing terrorism in Somalia by smuggling the drug khat to the United States and Canada, officials said.The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which is better known as Scotland Yard, said six men and one woman were arrested in various parts of London at around 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday. "The arrests were a part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation, into suspected fundraising for terrorism overseas," the force said in a statement.Police believe the seven suspects are part of a network suspected of illegally exporting the stimulant khat, which is legal in the United Kingdom, to the United States and Canada where it is a controlled substance. Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative branch of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was also part of the investigation."We are not prepared to discuss at present where overseas funding is allegedly being sent," a Scotland Yard spokesperson said. A U.S. official however, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the khat was smuggled from Africa to Britain and then to the U.S. and Canada. Funds raised were then used to finance terrorism in Somalia, which has been without an effective government since Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown two decades ago.Scotland Yard said the seven suspects are aged between 30 and 49, but their identities were not immediately released. "They have been taken to a central London police station where they remain in custody," the spokesperson said, adding that search warrants were being executed at eleven residential addresses and one business premises.Although unrelated, Tuesday's arrests came exactly a week after five men from Luton, a large town about 27 miles (45 kilometers) northwest of London, were arrested on suspicion they were preparing acts of terrorism. Four of the men were charged with a number of terrorism offenses on Monday, and the fifth man was released without charge.

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