New York: An alleged Afghan narco-terrorist who is accused of selling heroin to fund the Taliban, had tentacles into Australia and boasted of wiring drug money around the world from Melbourne "within an hour", prosecutors allege.
Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf, 53, was extradited from Estonia to the United States on Thursday, months after an elaborate sting operation caught him trafficking heroin to an undercover officer posing as a New York drug lord.
Alleged Afghan narco-terrorism Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf (inset) and a 10-kilogram shipment of heroin bound for New York.Credit:US Department of Justice
Court documents filed in the Southern District of New York reveal Manaf had two associates in Melbourne who sent and received drug money, and had a direct line to the Taliban and its affiliate, the Haqqani Network.
Manaf was put on a blacklist by the US Treasury in 2012 for storing or moving money for the Taliban through a money remitting business called the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange. He was unable to move money in or out of the US, costing him $US20 million ($28 million) in lost business.
Manaf and an undercover agent in New York exchanged What’s App messages showing a small “test run” shipment of heroin.Credit:US Department of Justice
Instead, he allegedly used two Melbourne associates to move money to New York and Kabul using Australian-based money transmitting businesses.
In early 2018, a long-time friend of Manaf's became a paid informant for the US Drug and Enforcement Agency (DEA) and introduced Manaf to the supposed drug lord in New York who wanted to import heroin.
The pair developed a close relationship, sharing texts and photos over WhatsApp and meeting in person in Kabul. After Manaf exported a test run of 10 kilograms of heroin, the pair intended to ramp up to 500 or 1000 kg shipments to New York.
The case against Manaf revealed some inner workings of the heroin trade. Traffickers have to pay the Taliban for a unique stamp that identifies the provenance of the heroin. They also have to pay the Taliban or Haqqani Network to ensure the heroin reaches Kabul safely.
"[The Taliban is] very good for our and your business," Manaf said in one recorded phone call. "If there are 2000 pieces [kilograms], they will observe, they will patrol, and nobody will be able to touch them."
Between June and August last year, Manaf arranged for his Australian associates, including a man named Mosa, to wire $50,000 in protection money to the Haqqani Network, $25,000 for the 10 kg shipment to him and $30,000 to the Haqqani Network for a previous deal.
A unique stamp provided by the Taliban to authorise heroin batches.Credit:US Department of Justice
On each occasion, an undercover Australian officer posing as the New York drug lord's associate met Mosa in Melbourne to hand over the cash. The transfers were collected in Afghanistan by associates of Manaf, some of whom were paid informants.
When the undercover agent said he needed some drug money to be moved from Australia to New York, Manaf boasted that he could "transfer your money … within one hour".
He encouraged his supposed business partner to expand in Australia: "If you want [heroin] in New York, if you want it in Kabul or anywhere else, it is not a problem," he said.
Manaf was arrested in Estonia in October and appeared in a New York court on Thursday charged with narco-terrorism.
The Haqqani Network and the Taliban have claimed responsibility for scores of bombings, kidnappings and targeted attacks on western civilians, journalists and armed forces.
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