7 held over Somali drug terror racket Dawn raids across the UK over cash plot to arm fanatic

SEVEN terror suspects arrested yesterday are thought to be involved in a plot to finance an al-Qaeda group using drug money.

Cash for the al-Shabaab terrorist network in Somalia is said to come from the export of a plant called khat to the US and Canada.

It is legal in the UK, selling for under £2 a kilo, but banned in North America. It can fetch £350 a kilo on the black market there. It is also believed the suspects were involved in an alleged racket to supply weapons to Somali pirates.

More than 500 counter-terrorism cops backed by local police and officers from the UK Border Agency carried out dawn raids in London, Coventry and Cardiff.
 
Homeland Security Investigations from the US were also involved in the operation, codenamed Iridescent.           More