ГУЛаг Палестины

The drug trade is considered to be the most profitable branch of crime in the world. The profit margin ranges in the area of 200% for cocaine and 1,200% for heroin. The amounts of money laundered in the trading office are larger than the budgets of many small states. The temptation is great. The main problem of the Colombian drug barons who control a significant part of world drug trade is how to get rid of the money. It is a problem of the rich but a nagging one. Two major Colombian drug cartels operate in the US - the Kali cartel and the Medellin cartel.

The killing of the head of the Medellin cartel, Pablo Escovar, by the Colombian authorities in December 1993 greatly weakened this cartel which had controlled the drug trade in the New York area. The Kali people, in contrast, hold a monopoly over the Los Angeles and Miami area markets. At present, the Kali people distribute about 80 per cent of the world's cocaine and a third of the heroin- The Kali drug cartel makes $25 billion each year within the US alone. The money must somehow be shipped out of the US without arousing the attention of the American authorities. Besides, the cash must be given a seal of approval and, one way or another, become legitimized.

Around this complex issue a mega-business has sprung up - laundering and smuggling drug money. American customs investigators have found millions of dollars in containers supposed to have contained dried peas, in double-sided gas tanks, in steel boxes attached to freight ships. In 1990 they found $14 million in cash in a shipment of cables, supposed to have been sent from a Long Island warehouse to Colombia.

According to records found on the site, that was shipment No. 234 (multiplied by 14 million, calculate it yourselves). The same year, at Kennedy Airport, in a warehouse, 26 large containers were found which were supposed to have contained bull sperm. The latter was not there but there were $6.5 million. In May of this year American investigators raided a bowling ball plant in Long Island. They picked up the balls, cut them in half and found within them $210,000 in used $100 bills.

Despite their active imaginations, the drug barons find it hard to keep up. $25 billion is a lot of money and it must fill a lot of space since most of the money gained in drug deals comes in bills of $10 to $20. And that is how the match was made between the drug cartels and 47th Street in Manhattan.

This street is the world center for trading diamonds, gold, jewels and precious stones. Hundreds of businesses are crowded in there, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Shops, businesses, display halls. In the back rooms and on the top floors, far from public access, the action takes place. That is where the major traders sit, and that is where the deals are made. Diamonds, gold and jewels pass from hand to hand with a handshake. The frantic activity there offers an ideal cover for illegal transfers of money. "In fact, even legitimate business appears, on 47th Street, to be dark and mysterious," said a customs official.

"Merchandise arrives constantly, boxes, suitcases and packages are constantly opened, everything arrives in armored cars, under heavy security and a shield of secrecy. Now, go find the black money."

"The match between the drug barons and 47th Street," an American customs investigator told Afaai-ii, "is ideal. The gold and diamonds industry circulates large amounts of cash. The diamond traders are accustomed to transporting large amounts of money in cash, from one state to another, efficiently and without leaving a trace, Large amounts of money pass from hand to hand on 47th Street, without arousing suspicion.

"A diamond trader might launder $5 million every day without arousing special attention. it is difficult to monitor the deals, to locate the sources of the money and it is very difficult to infiltrate that closed field, which is based on personal acquaintance and trust."

Added to it is the fact that in the course of the past five years, the diamond industry on 47th Street has been in a deep slump, which put many traders into bankruptcy. "A trader like that," said an investigator, "faces the choice of bankruptcy or making easy, quick and relatively safe money. Not everyone is strong enough to withstand the temptation."

All of that would not have been of interest to us if not for the massive Israeli and Jewish presence on 47th Street. "At least 50% of the diamond traders there are Israelis," so an Israeli diamond merchant, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Maariv. "Not a few Israelis also operate in the field of jewels, precious stones and gold. All of them came to New York to make fast money, conquer the market, get their big break. Not all of them have succeeded, especially not recently." But the Jewish presence on 47th Street is much greater than that.