Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAMAKO961
2007-08-31 07:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:
TUAREGS AND ARABS CLASH OVER DRUGS AND CASH IN
how-toVZCZCXRO5289 RR RUEHPA DE RUEHBP #0961 2430730 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 310730Z AUG 07 FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8013 INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 0250 RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 0269 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAMAKO 000961
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: SNAR PINS PREL PGOV ML
SUBJECT: TUAREGS AND ARABS CLASH OVER DRUGS AND CASH IN
NORTHERN MALI
Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) and (D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAMAKO 000961
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: SNAR PINS PREL PGOV ML
SUBJECT: TUAREGS AND ARABS CLASH OVER DRUGS AND CASH IN
NORTHERN MALI
Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) and (D)
1. (C) Sources in Kidal reported to us that a two vehicle
convoy carrying cocaine under the protection of Kidal-based
smuggler Hama Moussa was reportedly stopped in Mauritania
sometime between 13-15 August near the Mauritanian village of
Arikchach (actual location and/or spelling unknown) by
Berabich under the direction of Ibrahim Handa and "Lahsoune".
After removing the cocaine as a "transit tax" for passing
through Berabich territory, the drivers and vehicles were
allowed to continue to Kidal. Moussa and the drivers of the
vehicles are ethnic Tuaregs from northeastern Mali, while
Handa and Lahsoune (no further name given) are from the
ethnically Arab Berabich clan of Northern Mali.
2. (C) The cocaine was supposedly in transit from Morocco
(where it had been shipped by air from South America) to
Egypt or the Sudan, where smugglers would take possession of
the cocaine for onward shipment to Europe or the Gulf States.
Following the seizure, Moussa immediately began taking steps
to recover the cocaine by force. Violence was averted when
Moussa and Commandant Ould Bou Lamana, an ethnic Berabich and
officer in the Malian DGSE (Director General for State
Security),negotiated a cash settlement of 30 million
Algerian Dinars (a little under 450,000 dollars) in exchange
for return of the cocaine and as an advanced tax on future
trips.
3. (C) The names of Moussa and Lamana have surfaced in other
sensitive reporting, consistent with their roles in the drama
described above. Commandant (Major-equivalent) Lamana has
fed information to criminal and terrorist organizations in
the past, and his exact role within State Security remains a
mystery: a member of President Toure's staff was even
overheard August 28 complaining about Lamana's involvement in
a cell phone conversation with DGSE Director General Colonel
Mamy Coulibaly. While the exact details of the complaint
were unclear, it appeared Coulibaly was actively interceding
with the Presidency to protect Lamana. The Kidal rumor mill
at the source of this information inevitably loses or alters
some of the facts in the retelling, but such reports are
often surprisingly reliable, if not always completely
accurate, and provide an intriguing if incomplete window into
the drug trafficking and smuggling throughout the ungoverned
regions of Northern Mali.
McCulley
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: SNAR PINS PREL PGOV ML
SUBJECT: TUAREGS AND ARABS CLASH OVER DRUGS AND CASH IN
NORTHERN MALI
Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) and (D)
1. (C) Sources in Kidal reported to us that a two vehicle
convoy carrying cocaine under the protection of Kidal-based
smuggler Hama Moussa was reportedly stopped in Mauritania
sometime between 13-15 August near the Mauritanian village of
Arikchach (actual location and/or spelling unknown) by
Berabich under the direction of Ibrahim Handa and "Lahsoune".
After removing the cocaine as a "transit tax" for passing
through Berabich territory, the drivers and vehicles were
allowed to continue to Kidal. Moussa and the drivers of the
vehicles are ethnic Tuaregs from northeastern Mali, while
Handa and Lahsoune (no further name given) are from the
ethnically Arab Berabich clan of Northern Mali.
2. (C) The cocaine was supposedly in transit from Morocco
(where it had been shipped by air from South America) to
Egypt or the Sudan, where smugglers would take possession of
the cocaine for onward shipment to Europe or the Gulf States.
Following the seizure, Moussa immediately began taking steps
to recover the cocaine by force. Violence was averted when
Moussa and Commandant Ould Bou Lamana, an ethnic Berabich and
officer in the Malian DGSE (Director General for State
Security),negotiated a cash settlement of 30 million
Algerian Dinars (a little under 450,000 dollars) in exchange
for return of the cocaine and as an advanced tax on future
trips.
3. (C) The names of Moussa and Lamana have surfaced in other
sensitive reporting, consistent with their roles in the drama
described above. Commandant (Major-equivalent) Lamana has
fed information to criminal and terrorist organizations in
the past, and his exact role within State Security remains a
mystery: a member of President Toure's staff was even
overheard August 28 complaining about Lamana's involvement in
a cell phone conversation with DGSE Director General Colonel
Mamy Coulibaly. While the exact details of the complaint
were unclear, it appeared Coulibaly was actively interceding
with the Presidency to protect Lamana. The Kidal rumor mill
at the source of this information inevitably loses or alters
some of the facts in the retelling, but such reports are
often surprisingly reliable, if not always completely
accurate, and provide an intriguing if incomplete window into
the drug trafficking and smuggling throughout the ungoverned
regions of Northern Mali.
McCulley