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NRI sentenced 57 months jail for selling Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

SAN DIEGO, April 12 2006
Rafiq Alvi

NRI (non-resident Indian) Ilyas Ali, U.S. citizen, was sentenced Monday to 57 months in jail for his role in a plot to obtain and sell Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. An other person , Muhamed Abid Afridi, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

In 2004, both men along with Syed Mustajab Shah, pleaded guilty in 2004 to conspiracy to distribute heroin and hashish, and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Syed Mustajab Shah, 57, will be sentenced om June 19.

Ilyas Ali agreed that he tried to sell five tons of hashish and a half-ton of heroin to undercover U.S. law enforcement officials in 2002 in exchange for cash and four shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, which he and the other defendants intended to sell to members of the Taliban.

In the month of April 2002,

Writing in the Washington Times two years ago, Terence P. Jeffrey reported on Ali's and Afridi's plea agreements:

On April 11, 2002, in Southern California, Ali, "acting on behalf of defendants Syed Mustajab Shah and Muhammed Abid Afridi, negotiated with an undercover law enforcement officer for the sale of ton quantities of hashish and multiple kilogram quantities of heroin."
On Sept. 15, 2002, Afridi, Ali and Shah traveled from Pakistan to Hong Kong "to meet with undercover law enforcement officers from the United States and to negotiate for the sale of ton quantities of heroin."

The next day, Sept. 16, 2002, "at a hotel in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, defendants Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammed Abid Afridi, and Ilyas Ali negotiated with undercover law enforcement officers from the United States for the sale of 5 metric tons of hashish and 600 kilograms of heroin."

That same day, "defendants Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammed Abid Afridi, and Ilyas Ali agreed that the purchase price of the 5 metric tons of hashish and 600 kilograms of heroin could be offset against the cost of 4 'Stinger' anti-aircraft missiles, which the defendants stated they were interested in purchasing from the law enforcement officers."

Two days later, "defendants Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammed Abid Afridi, and Ilyas Ali told undercover law enforcement officers from the United States they intended to sell the 'Stinger' anti-aircraft missiles discussed during the meeting on Sept. 16, 2002, to members of the Taliban, an organization the defendants knew to be the same as al Qaeda."

Five years doesn't seem nearly long enough for providing material support to terrorists. According to the BBC, the drug charges could result in life in prison and fines of $4m, while supporting terrorists carries up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Read official indictment against the three------> Click here (pdf format).