"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts

Sunday, September 9, 2018

American Made: CIA Drug and Sex Trafficking In The National Interest

By Frank Dux, ArtVoice

Frank William Dux ( /ˈdjuːks/) is a martial artist and fight choreographer. Dux established his own school of ninjutsu in 1975, called "Dux Ryu Ninjutsu". An article about his purported exploits, which appeared in Black Belt in November 1980, was the eventual inspiration for the 1988 film Bloodsport starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The accuracy of many of Dux's personal claims has been disputed, including his martial arts background, fighting in the "Kumite", and prior military service. Wikipedia

Dux claims to have been a US agent involved in Dark Ops. His accusations are discredited by Mainstream Media, however, they make a whole lot of sense and are certainly worth reading. This would appear to be Deep State at work.

Most of us when faced with a disturbing truth we would rather live in denial than act on it, specifically, when it requires stepping outside of our comfort zone. This is largely attributable to the fact that at an early age each off us are programmed to go along with the status quo; blindly accept as the truth whatever is put before us by the educators, media, our parents, peers or  an “authoritarian establishment.”  It seems because of the way we are pre-conditioned to think and behave the best way we accept harsh ugly realities as being authentic, is to have them explained to us in a palatable manner, like a docudrama film.   And this is what is anticipated with the film release of American Made starring Tom Cruise as Barry Seal — the infamous Iran Contra gate TWA pilot who is recruited by the CIA to help counter the emerging communist threat in Central America. Seal’s role in this major CIA covert operation led in turn to his involvement with the Medellin cartel, which ultimately embarrassed the Reagan White House when the Iran-Contra incident became public.

Caught between the schizophrenic nature of US Foreign policy with one arm of the executive branch, the CIA, engaged in the secret trafficking of drugs for arms whilst the other, the DEA, is engaged in stopping it, Barry Seal who helped build the drug Cartels for the CIA became a DEA informant against the CIA . What Barry Seal failed to realize during all of this, is that the CIA real interest in Barry Seal was NOT to traffic drugs for arms as much as it was to fulfill a mission to track and protect the steerage of the trillion dollar black economy currency, cash holdings, that is a traded commodity amongst financial institutions, flowing into and out of the Cartels.

When I found myself catapulted into the black ops war that some may refer to as, Iran Contra,  I, found purpose there. That’s because I witness firsthand the strategic importance of our nation being the “puppet masters” controlling the strings to a black economy versus what would happen if the manipulation fell into the hands of our nations enemies.  How there exist “economic hit men” overturning entire systems of governments without firing a shot. The economy of the nation and the fate of the free world hung in the balance as the Cold War was really a war of finance.  Not the war of contrary ideologies, Capitalism vs Communism, as we are led to believe by which to be further manipulated.

The Top Secret role of the DEA in the big picture scheme of things is not the eradication of drug trafficking. It’s real mission isn’t even made known to its own personnel. The DEA serves the strategic purpose of centralizing the black economy by thinning out the hordes of illicit small drug business entrepreneurs and thus, keep the bulk of cash manageable and moving in the right direction. This reality is what was explained to along with why a CIA agent had secretly headed the DEA. Put strategically in place to make sure DEA activities actually did not contaminate the big picture strategy, the drugs for arms trafficking operations of the CIA, that is Iran Contra-gate, etc. With Honduras being a staging area for narco-Contra activity, this is why the DEA office there is inexplicably closed.

It is no coincidence, the Obama CIA dabbles in backing Syrian Rebel groups engaged in narco terrorism in its overthrowing of President Asad of Syria. In documentaries US forces in Afghanistan voice their concerns over how certain people may produce and harvest opium poppy that ultimately is headed to the US and EU countries, while the are told they must be aggressive in eradicating others crops.

Human trafficking is being dealt with in the same manner.   Until 2009, at least 47 independent cartels exist dedicated to human smuggling and human trafficking operated in Mexico. However, with the emergence of Los Zetas as an independent cartel in 2010 and the empowerment of the Cartel Del Golfo (CDG) in the last five years, the smaller cartels have been absorbed or destroyed, producing a dramatic change in the dynamics of human trafficking and human smuggling in the country.   Human trafficking is on its way to being globally monopolized. It is a far more lucrative criminal enterprise considering sex can be sold over and over again unlike a kilo of cocaine the cartel can sell only once.

The black economy produced from drug and human trafficking includes the laundering of cash that ultimately ends up in “investment funds” and, ultimately, deposited back into the banks of the Power Elite. For a fee (or equity in an Investment enterprise), ill gotten gains are made clean, leveraged and circulated back into the community, stimulating economic growth and jobs — it bolsters the transparent economy.

This symbiotic relationship is largely why the drug Cartels were established and organized by the US intelligence apparatus, beginning with an intelligence Colonel, named Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, commonly referred to by his alias “Don Neto.”   He is the former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, an extinct criminal group based in Jalisco. He headed the organization alongside Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Rafael Caro Quintero, (introduced to me as a Mexican intelligence Colonel, made recognizable by his gold plated Colt .45 caliber pistol and jewel encrusted seal of the CIA he wears as a pendant around his neck, allegedly commissioned in commemorating his families dark alliance with the CIA and who couldn’t fathom why the DEA was targeting him). Fonseca Carrillo was involved with drug trafficking since the early 1970s, primarily in Ecuador, but later with the CIA’s assistance and allegedly under their direction moved his operations to Mexico. Fonseca is the uncle of former Juarez Cartel leader, Amado Carrillo Fuentes..

When Miami was a hub for drug trafficking the black economy there visibly resurrected and glamorized a dying, broke city.  Likewise, New York City that was bankrupt flourishes as Wall Street’s stock market became a bull market with black economy funds being laundered, deposited and transformed into investment funds.

The CIA serves at the discretion of the President.  It is however feared to be a proxy agency of the power elite, as well, given the high level leadership in the intelligence community are members of power elite secret societies, like Yale’s Skull and Bones fraternity.

The Penthouse article entitled: Crimes of Mena by Sally Denton and Roger Morris  having cleared the legal department for all possible questions of inaccurate statements, was scheduled for publication by the Washington Post. Inexplicably, its Managing Editor, Bob Kaiser, like President George Bush, is a member of the infamous Yale “Skull & Bones” Fraternity. He killed the article without explanation just as it went to press.

According to the sidebar which appeared with the Penthouse Magazine version of this story, Bob Kaiser refused to even meet with Sally Denton and Roger Morris, who comment: “This was, after all, the thoroughly documented story of an enormous crime — of billions of dollars in gunrunning and drug smuggling done with the apparent collusion and cover-up of the U.S. government. It raised ominous questions not only about Bill Clinton, but about presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush as well — not simply a single set of scoundrels, but a far larger culture of official lawlessness. And behind the sorry episode at The Washington Post was something nearly as sinister — the tragic inability or refusal of a major media institution to confront that malignant dark side of American life and governance, even when presented with unprecedented evidence”

The Los Angeles Times is a well known in the intelligence community for spinning or fabricating stories for damage control or to discredit political targets of the CIA.  The paper lives up to that reputation when it goes about its discrediting the Pulitzer prize winning investigative journalist Gary Webb. Webb gained public notoriety breaking the Contra drug story. There had even been mention in the press of the Contra’s link with the drug trade in the U.S. – and by default, CIA involvement. 

Gary Webb did what nobody else had —that was to follow the supply chain – right to the poverty stricken streets of Los Angeles. He showed what happened to the cocaine after it had been smuggled in by the Contras, focusing in on the human impact, and then revealing what became of the money made from its sales.  The money trail leads back to the power elite.

Webb summed up the heart of his Dark Alliance series thus: “It is one of the most bizarre alliances in modern history. The union of a U.S. backed army attempting to overthrow a revolutionary socialist government and the uzi-toting “gangstas” of Compton and South-Central Los Angeles.”

Perhaps most damningly, Webb wrote that crack cocaine was virtually unobtainable in the city’s black neighborhoods before “members of the CIA’s army” began supplying it at rock-bottom prices in the Nineteen Eighties.

The Los Angeles Times went out of its way to malign and undermine Webbs credibility, and in May 1988, as Congressional Hearings investigating the Iran Contra Drugs for Arms dealings is ongoing the newspaper repeats that pattern of behavior to discredit me. Not to be unexpected given the Newspaper employs CIA paid for journalists,.When questioned about this in the Church Committee Congressional Hearings, DCI George Bush refused to identify them. 

The reporter, who is curiously not an entertainment but a defense industry/science reporter, John Johnson, asserts there exists a trophy receipt in his possession that proves I purchased my own World Championship trophy from a trophy shop near my home, that the organization that awarded it cannot be found and leads only back to my doorstep. He asserts further my ninja instructor is a delusional fabrication taken from the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice; and that there exist a photo of me in uniform wearing medals while proclaiming myself to be a decorated Vietnam War veteran. Also,the paper asserts I cannot name anyone I fought in Kumite matches, etc. The unbiased independent third party expert witnesses are in actuality, my martial art business competitors or have a personal axe to grind with me.  He engages in selective fact finding, misquotes witnesses, makes them out to be lying for me.

The Los Angeles Times is so committed to running what is called in the business of journalism “a hatchet job” that the reporter actually announced his malice to the father of American Karate, Ed Parker, his partner Mickey Blowitz and myself.  All of us listening in on the speaker phone conversation that took place in my office as this hatchet man interviewed Grandmaster Parker. Parker is an iconic figure in the martial art world who puts on the largest international martial art event, in its time —The Long Beach Internationals. His events attracting a virtual who’s who in Martial Arts, like Victor Moore, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, etc. 

The reporter, John Johnson, temper showed itself with Grandmaster Parker stating members in his own extended family fought with me.  Parker cites my fight with USKA World Champion Victor Moore who corroborates this online and in documentaries. Ed Parker states he also knew my ninja instructor Senzo Tanaka is real, as Tanaka is a pioneering legend, whose existence the reporter could easily corroborate through Tanaka’s highly esteemed students,  Lawrence Day, Michael Felkoff, John Keehan aka Count Dante, etc.  Parker points out how leaders of the Society of Black Dragons organization are featured as such in various issues of martial art magazines. BTW — The alleged “nonexistent” organization recently celebrated its 50th anniversary that is available for viewing online.

 Grandmaster Ed Parker is thereafter insulted and threatened he best distance himself and withdraw any support of me. The reporter’s announced malice ultimately results in a meeting taking place between an Editor of the Los Angeles Times, my attorney and myself  PRIOR TO PUBLICATION. Where my eyes were opened to the existence of the underbelly of journalism and the power elite that holds a knife to it.  The editor does not want to see a certified copy of Senzo Tanaka’s death certificate, a public record on file at the Hall of Records. The best evidence they have which they confront me with is not a receipt but a xerox copy  anyone could make on a home copy/fax machine.  

On its face fraudulent when it is not even for the same type of trophy and misspells my name DUKES; is dated 1982, later altered to 1979, many years after my trophy was on public display, a photo taken of it in 1976 by Black Belt magazine, published in their Nov 1980 issue. Uncharacteristically, the magazine states its staff investigated and verified the Kumite story is true.  The reporter armed with a picture of me in military uniform wearing ribbons (and not medals) which he and others use to represent this is proof of how I am misrepresenting myself to the public as a decorated Vietnam War Veteran is a photo of me costumed in my 8mm student film film, and the reel footage at the meeting proves it.

With everything untangling the editor refused to present me with my alleged FOIA Military Service Records for me to dispute, which is also a fabrication used by them to disparage me. He does not view the Kumite footage we brought, as well. My attorney’s theory is that if he had seen it this would make for a solid argument in proving they acted with actual malice.

The editor, nervously, took me aside and begrudgingly confided he is powerless to stop the discrediting of me as this was being carried out on the orders of powerful people with enough leverage to bend the newspaper owners to its will.  His job security was inferred to be at risk. He promises to bury this, limited in circulation to only the San Fernando Valley, and whispers who did this to me are the people connected to “North” — inferring Lt. Colonel Oliver North and the power elite network  Lt. Commander Martin, USN named: “the Bush cabal”. 

I was more inclined to believe this was a paid for hatchet job — paid by my unethical business competitors running a consumer scam where, they along with Black Belt magazines editor, Jim Coleman, are deliberately making misrepresentations of material facts to financially benefit them.

My competitors built their business on the falsehood that they alone are the only real teachers of the ways of the ninja; and that ninjutsu is a four centuries old secret martial art, which is all false. They call all others outside their Takamatsu-den Fakes and Frauds, words weaved into the LA Times headline.

However, the way an intelligence agency like the CIA goes about discrediting someone with outright lies is they do it expertly, the tone will point suspicion away from them and onto the most overt of enemies,  business competitors, a vindictive ex-wife, for example.

Iran Contra Congressional expert witness, Iran-Contra insider, US Navy Lt. Commander,Alexander Martin (ret), stated in court proceedings under penalty of perjury, “During my intelligence career, I have met with and been introduced to many covert operatives, whose existence has often been officially denied by the government agencies that these parties have been associated with. One of these covert operatives was one Frank Dux.”

Lt. Commander Martin’s declaration was entered into evidence as Exhibit #25 in my suit of libel and slander against Soldier of Fortune magazine.  In addition, high ranking officials of military and law enforcement in the U.S., Russia and other nations corroborate Lt.  Commander, Martin’s testimony surrounding my activities as a covert operative.  

Proclaiming  PTSD and Agent Orange are hoaxes and veterans should not receive costly medical treatment or pension benefits for them, B.G. Burkett,  in his self-published and un-vetted work, entitled: Stolen Valor: War Stories And Other Lies, defames me. 

This book lumps myself in with phony Vietnam Vets.  He levels over 600 unsubstantiated allegations against me, where his malice makes itself known by way of his inflammatory and defamatory language. This is documented in the Court Prepared Analysis & Breakdown of Stolen Valor in my court proceedings of libel and slander against Robert K. Brown, Alexander McColl, Larry Bailey and Soldier of Fortune magazine, that lent credibility to Burkett’s allegations to discredit me. 

B.G. Burkett, like the defendants in my litigation are adjoined to the Swift Boat lies leveled against then Presidential candidate, John Kerry. Falsehoods used to sway swing votes in favor of a Bush Presidency.  B.G. Burkett is a reputed political hatchet man/spin doctor in the Bush political machine that ran a smear campaign against George W. Bush primary opponent, Senator John McCain. 

Stolen Valor, like Soldier of Fortune’s slander and libel of me, was intended to undermine the findings in my book  The Secret Man, HarperCollins, 1996; where I expose the Iran Contra connection to the white house and, more significantly, forewarned how the industrial war complex was staging events to manipulate the Congress and our allies to go to war with Saddam Hussein, based on the lie in his possession are WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction).

The CIA desperate to discredit me to protect the operation, being deceptive issued an uncharacteristic public denial of my being a CIA agent,  inferring I was holding myself out to be one, when if you read my book The Secret Man I am adamant I could not possibly function in my investigative role, as one.   This is a unique occurrence considering in the entire history of the CIA they had only ever made two public denials before me. — G.Gordon Liddy a key player in the Watergate Hotel break in of the DNC headquarters; and Eugene H. Hasenfus who flew weapons shipments on behalf of the U.S. government to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, the Reagan administration having denied any connection to him, as well.   Left to rot in a Nicaraguan jail.

The CIA presents the Inside Edition magazine news show running a story on my book an official statement that is 13 pages long accompanied by the photo of me in my student film costume. They ran the story.

However, ABC Primetime News Interview I did with regard to the book is alleged suppressed by forces outside of the ABC News Network, so alleged Michael Bicks, the shows producer. Also producing that same photo of myself in my student film costume but this time sent to him by the FBI.

Various court proceedings over the years verify my bona fides as a covert operative while the unfolding of history proves my warnings were correct —   the WMD scam goes into full swing as the George W. Bush Administration and Halliburton take the nation to war, five years after the publication of my book. 

Alex Jones, Info Wars, presents compelling testimony and evidence that suggests 9/11, like the Gulf of Tonkin incident, is a false flag operation. Executed to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.  With Secretary of State, General Colin Powell resigning over the CIA lies told to him.  

The “Bush cabal” which Halliburton is alleged to be part of receives, unprecedented, no bid contract status. The war yields defense contractors hundreds of trillions of dollars that is steered into the bank accounts of the power elite, the Bush family and its cabal amongst them. This conflict of interest relationship is a sticking point with Donald Trump in his bid for the Presidency, referred to in his facing down Jeb Bush this way, in the Republican Party primaries.

The night before “Operation Just Cause,” the invasion of Panama is underway, President Noriega publicly announced that he had in his possession evidence that would topple the Bush Administration.   If he is guilty he  proclaims than so is President Bush guilty of the same crime of drug trafficking  — the invention and nurturing of the drug cartels to serve the international monetary funds, like the World Bank and World Monetary Fund (WMF), etc. Those that benefited with Noriega gone because black economy funds were being diverted from their financial institutions and being deposited into the Panamanian banks under Noriega’s control at an alarming rate.  Noriega violated an unspoken understanding with his banks undercutting the conspired fee structure associated with laundering ill gotten gains.  Lowering the price for these services, globally.

In the 1990’s, the CBS News magazine show 60 Minutes (as have others) exposed how the GNP of Mexico is the drug money being deposited in their banks. The public attention of this results in its stoppage through US intervention. This visibly results in tanking the value of Mexican currency, which the US must step in to back to negate civil uprisings that threatened to destabilize the government. But all this occurs after the Power Elite players on Wall Street know whats coming and they short the Mexican bank stocks, benefiting them.

(Kuhn Sa)

The drug kingpin Kuhn Sa had remained the ruler of the Shan state from 1974 to 1994 and according to the DEA he dominated the drug trade of the region called the Golden Triangle (Burma renamed Myanmar, Thailand and Laos).  Purporting that under Kuhn Sa tenure the distribution of heroin of 5% rises to 90% pure on the streets of New York City.  He too, allegedly received military aid as part of another secret CIA program that indirectly funded his Shan Army, attributable to their mutual beneficial arrangement – drug trafficking for arms profiteering.

Unexpectedly, in a video taped interview of Kuhn Sa that Special Forces Colonel Bo Gritz conducted with regards to locating missing Vietnam War U.S. POWs, the drug kingpin names several officials in the Reagan Administration. He alleges they are guilty of drug trafficking in Southeast Asia.  Among those named is Richard Armitage who served as Deputy Secretary of State during George W. Bush’s first term as President.

In addition, the progressive political party known as the Christic Group, pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. government over charges of drug trafficking in both Southeast Asia and Central America, claims President George Bush (Sr.) is complicit; just as represented by President Noriega.

Further, Kuhn Sa in his interview announced he had made an offer that he would destroy all of Southeast Asian opium poppy fields under his control contingent upon his Shan people receiving foreign aid. This say some intelligence analysts was a coded veiled threat of his stopping the flow of drugs and money. Kuhn Sa was astute to realize how his poppy sales profits when deposited props up US currency and banking interests.

This veiled threat prompted the jungle adjacent to his military compound to be bombed for weeks making possible the construction of a modern highway. Thus, ending the typical two to three week travel time by donkey it took to transport the drugs to market.  Increasing the sales distribution volume and with it increase the size of his army and his military arms purchases, dramatically.  This response suggested it is in the financial interest of the west to have assisted Kuhn Sa in becoming a more productive entity.  He knew it was opium and the desire to control it as a commodity that spirited the invasion, occupation and attempted colonization of Asia, beginning at the turn of the 20th Century.

Shortly after President George W Bush administration’s military invasion and occupation of Afghanistan,  emerges “heroine chic” fashion advertising campaigns that promotes the return of Afghani opium competing with cocaine.  Afghani heroine sales rise as the cocaine supply line is suddenly disrupted by DEA and CIA covert activities, that results in removal of both the Columbian and later, the Mexican Cartel’s leadership, the Cartels splintering into more manageable groups with each becoming dependent on arms trafficking to maintain their respective territory.

The power vacuum in Mexico escalates in great violence which results in US military grade weapons flowing to one side secretly under the Obama administration.  Knowledge of this is quashed by corporate media in the USA.  An estimated 100,000 dead per year is attributed to the US weaponized ‘drug war’ being waged there.  Thats double the total fatalities of the entire 10 year long Vietnam War —approx. 50,000 dead.

What does this all mean to America?

We must accept the fact that we cannot eradicate the black economy without possibly cratering our economy, our allies or for that matter, our enemies, forcing them to go to war with us. If we can figure out how to do this than might we make America great again and fulfill the dream of all of us enjoying the benefits one may expect from a prosperous and peaceful utopian society — what the Power Elite claims is their end goal in justifying their actions.

The main stream media is seemingly being replaced by social media and that is how President Trump states he was able to overcome the negativity to become president — staying connected through his Twitter account. The public is pushing back and seeks new alternate means to stay informed, like social media and docudramas like America Made that stands to ignite a powder-keg of opinion, debuting in theaters near you.


Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Would-be Migrant Held for Ransom in Libya Regrets Attempt to Reach Europe

'I will never try it again'

6,000-7,000 undocumented migrants in detention in Libya, UN says
By Anna Cunningham, CBC News 

Animals scavenge on mounds of garbage in Oworonshoki, a slum on the edge of Lagos, Nigeria. Oluwaseun Femi Ijitola, 34, risked his life to escape this place to try to make a better life for his wife and five-year-old daughter. (Anna Cunningham/CBC)

​The ground is thick with mud and sewage. Wooden planks and tires scatter the slum, making a precarious pathway.

"We have to walk," says Oluwaseun Femi Ijitola, a 34-year-old taxi driver known as Seun. "No vehicle can pass through."

There is a look of shame in his eyes as he surveys this forgotten corner of Lagos.

On the water's edge of Nigeria's largest city, in the neighbourhood of Oworonshoki, people live in dire poverty with no sanitation, electricity or any other facilities, in ramshackle shanties covered with dirty tarpaulin and cardboard that barely keeps out the seasonal rains.

The local church in Oworonshoki. (Anna Cunningham/CBC)

Chickens, goats and dog scavenge on mounds of garbage. Empty plastic bottles float on the tide of the Lagos Lagoon.

This is what Ijitola risked his life to escape when he became one of the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants attempting to cross the Sahara desert to get to Europe and the hope of a better life. 

"I have a dream of schooling abroad, and that is why I went to Libya," he says.

A local elder stops to question us. Strangers don't come here unless they are officials sent to evict people, he says suspiciously.

Ijitola says the area is "very, very rough and tough" and unlocks a tiny padlock to his wooden shack. His wife and five-year-old daughter aren't here. 

"I sent them to be with the mother-in-law," he says. "I cannot feed them."

​Local "area boys" — as the criminal gangs that extort money and mete out casual violence are known — loiter outside, smoking marijuana and drinking beer.

"I won't be able to sleep here tonight," Ijitola says. "They will give me hassle."

Treacherous desert crossing

For Ijitola, the decision to leave Nigeria arose from a mundane problem: his car — the family's only source of income — broke down. In late 2016 he decided it was time to seek a better life.

He used what little money had to head north, taking a well-worn route. He took a bus more than 1,100 kilometres to Kano, in northern Nigeria, and from there across the border into Niger.

Children play amongst sewage and debris in the Lagos slum. (Anna Cunningham/CBC)

In Agadez, a transit town on the fringes of the Sahara that has become a staging post for the legions desperate to leave Africa, he paid traffickers to be taken on the treacherous crossing to Libya.

"It was tough. The sun was too much," he recalled. "We spent five days inside the desert without eating, only drink water, water, water. Anytime we finish, we needed more."

Crammed into a truck with many others, and with temperatures nearing 50 C during the day, he reached Libya and believed he was closer to his dream.

But his real nightmare had only just begun. In Sebha, nearly 800 kilometres from the capital, Tripoli, the driver sold them all to a man called Ali, who would then demand money for their release.

'They used to beat us every day'

There has been mounting concern from humanitarian agencies over Libya's makeshift prisons full of undocumented migrants who then become victims of human traffickers.

The prisons are divided into "ghettos," Ijitola says.  He was in the Nigeria ghetto, where he met people from countries all across West and Central Africa.

(International Organization for Migration)

Women raped

Women, who were held separately, were forced to sell themselves to their captors to get food, Ijitola says. "Those that refused the guards were raped," he says, his voice trailing off.

Violence was commonplace: "They used to beat us every day. Day by day they flog us with a pipe" — a practice referred to as giving the prisoners "morning tea," he says. 

Ijitola's story is increasingly common, says Richard Danzinger, of the International Organization for Migration.

The UN body estimates that some 6,000-7,000 undocumented migrants are in detention facilities throughout Libya, where law and order has broken down since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The IOM says the majority of illegal migrants to Europe come through the central Mediterranean route, via Libya: more than 100,000 in 2016, and already more than 85,000 so far this year.

Ijitola was picked up by Libyan authorities before he could attempt the crossing to Italy.
He was sent back to Nigeria. (Anna Cunningham/CBC)

West African governments watch as their young people are being lost to ruthless people-smugglers, who often also have links to organized crime networks involved in the smuggling of arms and drugs.

$500 ransom paid

Seun's horrific ordeal lasted four long months. During that time he watched others die and thought he'd be next.

His freedom came at a price of $500, a sum his captors wanted deposited directly into their Nigerian bank account. His wife back in Lagos sold their broken car. The man who bought it borrowed the cash after hearing Seun being beaten during a phone call. 

Seun had already paid nearly $1,500 to get to Libya — for him, a small fortune. After paying the ransom, he spent about a month working to fund the next leg of his journey — the boat crossing to Italy — when the Libyan authorities caught up with him.

He was deported to Nigeria in April.

"After the whole pain, the suffering, everything, the beating and all that, the work, everything I've done in Libya … I'm back to Nigeria with nothing," says Seun.

Ijitola says he spent five days crammed inside a truck with many others, while temperatures
outside neared 50 C. Everyone in the truck was sold for ransom when they reached Libya.
(Anna Cunningham/CBC)

He always told his daughter that he wanted to give her an education, that he hoped she'd go "further than I do."

How he will do that is unclear. He has no car, no job, no money to buy food.

He feels exploited by the people who took his money along the way, calling them "evil," and likens the process to "a slave trade … buying passengers, buying human beings."

Africans need to know the true picture, he says.

"I will never try it again in my life," he says. "If I have opportunity to go to Europe again, it's going to be in the normal process."

Seun might now advise against the journey, but Danzinger, of the UN, says most people will ignore his warning and take a chance.

"They will … until they are provided with an alternative for a dignified and sustainable life in their community of origin," he said, "or for an opportunity to migrate regularly."

It's time for western powers to ensure western companies working in third world countries are no longer raping them of their natural resources and giving little or nothing back to the host country. We need to set standards for labour, for taxes, for investment, for replacing resources removed, and for ensuring a reasonable quality of life exists for indigenous peoples. And we need to do it to excess because of the centuries of abuse and poverty we have forced upon these countries. 

If Europe wants to stop the flow of migrants coming from Africa, they need to invest in the quality of life of Africans. If the west wants to stop the flow of migrants from Asia, they need to stop selling weapons to anyone and everyone who wants them. Not much chance of that, is there!


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

African Migrants Raped & Murdered After Being Sold in Libyan ‘Slave Markets’ – UN

Will Syria become another Libya? Can we be that stupid?

© Reuters

A growing number of migrants passing through Libya are being traded in so-called slave markets before being held for ransom, according to the UN migration agency. Many experience malnutrition and sexual abuse, while some pay the ultimate price of death.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) spoke to African migrants who recounted their experiences of being bought and sold in garages and parking lots in the southern city of Sabha, one of Libya’s main migrant smuggling hubs.

Migrants are typically traded for as little as $200 to $500, and are held for an average of two to three months, Othman Belbeisi, the head of the IOM’s Libya mission, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

“Migrants are being sold in the market as a commodity,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.

“Selling human beings is becoming a trend among smugglers as the smuggling networks in Libya are becoming stronger and stronger,” Belbeisi added.

Thank you NATO, Barack Obama and David Cameron for your major contribution to this atrocity!

Many of the migrants are used as day laborers in construction and agriculture. Although some are paid, others are forced to work without pay, before being sold onwards to new buyers.

Women often face extremely tragic fates.

“About women, we heard a lot about bad treatment, rape and being forced into prostitution,” Belbeisi said.



In a statement, the IOM recounted the story of a Senegalese migrant referred to as ‘SC,’ who spoke of being ‘bought’ and taken to his first ‘prison’ – a private home where more than 100 migrants were beaten and held as hostages.

SC was asked to pay 300,000 Central African Francs ($480) for his release, which he couldn’t pay. He was then sold to another Libyan, who set his release price at 600,000 CFA ($970).

The Senegalese migrant, who spoke of dire sanitary conditions and meals offered only once per day, was eventually able to get money from his family and work as an interpreter to avoid future beatings.

However, others aren’t so lucky. Those who can’t pay are often killed or left to starve to death, according to the IOM. They are buried without being identified.

“What we know is that migrants who fall into the hands of smugglers face systematic malnutrition, sexual abuse and even murder,” the IOM’s director of operations and emergencies, Mohammed Abdiker, said. “We are hearing about mass graves in the desert."

When migrants die or are released, kidnappers simply return to the market to ‘buy’ more migrants to replace them, SC told the IOM.

Libya is a major gateway for migrants hoping to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, with more than 450,000 people making the crossing over the past three years.

Fatalities are all too common for those making the treacherous journey. So far this year an estimated 26,886 migrants have crossed to Italy,more than 600 are known to have died at sea, while an unknown number perish during their journey north through the desert, according to the Reuters. 

Last year marked a record for the number of migrants trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean route from North Africa, with 181,000 people registered at Italian ports.

A record number of fatalities was also recorded in 2016, with the UN’s refugee agency stating more than 5,000 people died, or were presumed dead, while making the journey.

The influx of migrants to Europe is unlikely to end any time soon, according to the president of the European Parliament, who has predicted that violence, civil wars, and poverty may force up to 30 million Africans to come to Europe within the next 10 years. 

Most of these countries are Muslim where violence and lawlessness reign supreme unless there is a very strong leader. Libya had a strongman leader and America and Britain took him out. The consequence is hundreds of thousands of migrants crossing to Italy, and thousands, if not tens of thousands suffering horribly and dying on the way - unintended consequences of illegal and immoral geopolitical interference. It looks like we are doomed to repeat the stupidity in Syria.



Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Boat Captain Guilty in Deadliest Mediterranean Shipwreck, Gets 18 Years

More than 700 migrants drowned as Malek deliberately collided with a rescue ship
"I have a little son from an Italian [woman]. I want to marry her," boat captain Mohammed Ali Malek told the court before his conviction Tuesday.

By Doug G. Ware, UPI

Tunisian fishing boat captain Mohammed Ali Malek (L) and Syrian deck hand Mahmud Bikhit were convicted by an Italian court Tuesday in the deaths of more than 700 people in the Mediterranean Sea's deadliest shipwreck. Malek was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Photos courtesy of Italian police

ROME, (UPI) -- The captain of a fishing boat, packed with illegal migrants, who authorities say caused the deadliest Mediterranean shipwreck in history was convicted and sentenced to prison on Tuesday.

Mohammed Ali Malek was convicted on charges of manslaughter, human trafficking and causing the disaster. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

More than 700 people are believed to have died on April 13, 2015, when the fishing vessel -- which carried scores of migrants bound for Italy -- abruptly collided with a Portuguese freighter ship, which was coming to the captain's aid.

The freighter, the King Jacob, was headed toward the fishing vessel to lend assistance after it received an emergency call from Italian authorities.

The small fishing vessel was destroyed and sunk, causing hundreds to drown in the sea. It's the Mediterranean's deadliest known shipwreck. Only 28 survivors were saved.

Including the Captain and mate!

According to investigators, Malek, 28, steered his boat into the freighter and caused the collision off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The exact death toll is unknown because most of those who drowned were undocumented immigrants traveling illegally from Libya to Italian shores -- part of the migrant crisis that's enveloped Europe in the last two years.

According to estimates, nearly 5,000 migrants have died this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean, and about 3,700 died last year.

Mahmud Bikhit, a Syrian national who served as Malek's mate on the boat, was also convicted on charges of aiding illegal immigration. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Malek's attorney said he plans to appeal the verdict and the sentence. Both men were also fined $9.5 million. Both have denied accusations that they were involved in human trafficking.

"I have been in Italy for two and a half years and I have a little son from an Italian [woman]. I want to marry her and [claim my son]. It's the truth," Malek told the court before Tuesday's verdict.

Good luck with that!

According to Malek, a citizen of Tunisia, his boat was thrust into the King Jacob by a large wave that was created in the sea by the freighter's large propellers.

"My client says he was a mere passenger," attorney Massimo Ferrante told The New York Times.

After the verdict, prosecutors said the case set two important precedents -- that traffickers who get into life-threatening situations can be criminally prosecuted after their rescue, and that migrants in such scenarios can be considered victims and avoid legal liability.

Lampedusa Island, Italy