Drop that fake Prada bag, you terrorist-loving son of a bitch!

[khaosworks]

Terrorists use fake goods to fund operations, Interpol official says
Associated Press
Jul. 17, 2003 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - From knockoffs of designer Kate Spade handbags to pirated DVDs, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups increasingly are turning to counterfeit goods to fund their operations, lawmakers were told Wednesday.

The global trade in counterfeit goods is estimated at $400 billion to $450 billion a year, said Ronald K. Noble, secretary general of Interpol, the organization that coordinates information among law enforcement agencies in 181 countries.

Noble did not have any figures on what percentage of funds may be going directly into the hands of terrorists, but he told the House Committee on International Relations that police agencies are "seeing the connection between terrorist financing and intellectual property crime."

He pointed to counterfeit cigarette trafficking by paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland and profits from fake CDs and other goods being funneled to Hezbollah in the Mideast.

Noble said some supporters of al-Qaida have been found with huge amounts of counterfeit items.

"If you find one al-Qaida operative with it, it's like finding one roach in your house or one rat in your house," he said. "It should be enough to draw your attention to it."

When asked how Americans might tell the difference between counterfeits and the real thing, Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security, said price is a good indication.

I think I'll just let this one pass without comment...

Comments

Tee Hee

[forestcats.livejournal.com]

OK what other retail/social ills can we attach to patriotism, good and evil and profits?

My simple minded idea is to kill off Walmart and stop using 3rd world labor to make cheap crap there to be sold here. It pisses those cultures off to be used, and abused for pennies.

Just my opinion I could be wrong...

[opadit.livejournal.com]

It sounds to me as if Interpol is fishing for financial support from the U.S. by squeaking, "Terrorists! Al-Qaida!"