Day: January 26, 2012

Dutch called “intolerant” for new ban on Somali drug khat

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is one of those diversity is strength reports from Europe.  Since we know Europe is ahead of us in its reverence for multiculturalism, take heed.

From AFP news:

UITHOORN, Netherlands — A small Dutch city less than 20 kilometres from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has become the hub of Europe’s sales of khat, a plant chewed for its stimulant qualities, soon to be banned in the Netherlands.

In a discreet warehouse tucked away in the city of Uithoorn, around a hundred Somalis and Yemenis were haggling over the latest delivery: a tonne of khat.

“The arrival of the delivery varies daily, depending on the flight from Kenya,” said a khat importer of the plant which drug authorities say produces a natural amphetamine when chewed.

The men sit around and chew the stuff, talk politics, and get high in the welfare capitols of Europe (especially as this report points out, in Scandinavia).

Residents of this ‘khat market’ city have had it.

Three khat deliveries a day, weighing about a tonne each, are taken to Uithoorn by truck from Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, 15 kilometres (nine miles) to the northwest. From Uithoorn it is sold to wholesale dealers and then resold throughout Europe.

But 15 of the European Union’s 27 states and Norway have already listed khat as an illegal narcotic and the Netherlands too announced earlier this month it would ban khat.

Local businesses have also complained about the commotion at the “khat market,” one of the reasons for the Dutch decision.

“Some days there may be more than 200 cars in the street,” sighed Uithoorn mayor Dagmar Oudhoorn.

Residents are tired, she said, adding “there is a real fear of crime and traffic problems.”

[…..]

Two-thirds of the khat at Uithoorn were exported illegally from the Netherlands, mainly to Scandinavia, the Somali importer told AFP.

The Somali khat “importer” goes on to wonder why the Dutch are so intolerant, but brushes it off with a promise to find another way to get his khat and make his illicit drug money when the Dutch ban goes into effect.

We’ve written about khat in the US from time to time.  It is here too.  This is our khat archive (Minnesota, Kansas, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and more!).

Note to readers:  I’ve been meaning to mention that on the many days lately that I don’t get time to post here, I can always be sure my reader numbers stay up because hundreds of people search every day for posts here on Somalis—Somalis in Minnesota, Somalis in Maine, Somali numbers,  Somalis in Canada, why so many Somalis and so forth.  See what I mean, go to the right hand side bar and look at “Top Posts” to see what old posts everyone is reading.

Fargo, ND: “Canadian” gets 18 years for major credit card scam

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

When I saw that title (or a similar one) about this story, I knew before reading further that it wouldn’t be somebody named Smith or Jones (or whatever the Canadian version is of ‘everyman’).  The convicted thief is Adekunle Adetiloye, a Nigerian who became a  Canadian citizen (although maybe he faked a passport too!).

I don’t know if he is a refugee originally granted asylum in Canada or what, but I do know that I had to laugh when I saw that the word ‘Nigerian’ was eliminated the second time it was mentioned in one mainstream media version of the story.

Here is USA Today on the story (one of the largest bank heists in US history!):

FARGO, N.D. – He was unemployed and receiving welfare, but Adekunle Adetiloye was somehow living lavishly, complete with a Range Rover, extended trips to England and an expensive condominium.

That alone piqued authorities’ interest, but then there were two credit cards tucked away in his wallet that seemed to confirm suspicions that Adetiloye, a Nigerian-born Canadian citizen, was up to something nefarious. The cards each bore different names — Donald Douglas and Vincent Andriole — and helped authorities prosecute a case they describe as one of the largest high-tech bank robberies in U.S. history.  [the ‘N-word’ is here—ed].

“Characterizing this fraud scheme as massive, if anything, is an understatement,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Chase of North Dakota said in court documents.

Adetiloye, 30, was sentenced Monday to nearly 18 years in prison on fraud charges. He was convicted of mail fraud, but authorities believe he masterminded a scheme to open nearly 600 fraudulent bank accounts and bilk 22 major banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Federal prosecutor Nick Chase said during the sentencing hearing in North Dakota that Adetiloye had an “insatiable hunger for other people’s money.”

Gee, that seems to apply to a lot of people these days—insatiable hunger for other people’s money!

Here is the paragraph at USA Today that I want you to look at:

Defense attorney Richard Henderson had asked for a sentence of fewer than 16 years. Henderson said any prison time for his client is more difficult than it would be for American citizens because he has no family in the United States.

Now, here is the same paragraph as originally written by AP and posted at Canadian Immigration Report where the reporter apparently wanted readers to not miss the fact that he was a Nigerian (not a native Canadian) by mentioning that fact twice.

Defence lawyer Richard Henderson had asked for a sentence of fewer than 16 years. Henderson said any prison time for his client, a native of Nigeria, is more difficult than it would be for American citizens because he has no family in the United States.

The phrase—a native of Nigeria—has been removed from the USA Today story (although it is mentioned once in the story).

And, by the way, why should anyone worry about this crook getting a lesser sentence then an American citizen just because he has no family in the US.  He surely wasn’t thinking about that when he was ruining the financial lives of hundreds of Americans.

With all the unrest in Nigeria (Muslims killing Christians), look for us to open up refugee resettlement from that country next!

If any of our Canadian readers know more about this guy, please comment.  It’s highly likely he wasn’t even a Canadian citizen, and Canada shouldn’t be the bad guy to all the American readers who skim only headlines and never read further.

Endnote:  As I have said many times, someone should write a blog just about fraud schemes by immigrants.  The food stamp fraud is especially egregious and the mainstream media is too squishy to report on it in any thorough way.