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359 Luis de la Corte Ibáñez To what extent do global terrorism and organised criminality converge perpetrators of the attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004.16. In all of the cases, these forms of participation in the drug business similarly require a complementary form of convergence: assistance from professional drug traffickers. We will look at this issue later on. 2. Other illegal trade. According to some information, at the start of the last decade Al Qaeda may have made use of the black market in gold and precious stones so as to obtain funds, conceal part of its money, launder profits from illegal sources and convert its funds in cash into objects that keep their value and were easily transportable. Although the 11-S Commission report refuted that evidence had been found in this respect, some experts still give credibility to the accusation that alleges that Al Qaida was involved in operations of buying and selling diamonds17. Another significant product that is trafficked with the help of jihadist groups is tobacco. The involvement of AQIM is smuggling cigarettes is relatively well-known (we will come back to this in another section). Nonetheless, Afghan and Pakistani jihadists also seem to have been making profits from this illegal activity18. The trade in human beings has involved, amongst others, the Algerian GIA, as well as Yemaa Islamiyya, the most powerful terrorist structure in south-east Asia that has maintained links with Al Qaida, whose main base is in Indonesia19. 3. Theft. Once more, Yemaa Islamiyya is a notable example, amongst many others. In fact, this organisation used robberies from several Banks as a means of obtaining the money necessary to fund its most deadly terrorist attack, a multiple attack perpetrated on the island of Bali on October 12, 2002. The final count was over two hundred victims killed20. The Pakistani Taliban have also taken part is several robberies from bank offices. In turn, the jihadist networks established in Spain from the end of the 90’s made use of the theft of credit card as one of their means of financing21. This particular criminal pattern, along 16  National Court, Criminal Division, Second Section, Ruling no. 65/2007. Second Section Summary proceeding number 20/04 of the Central Magistrates Court no. 6, Division Roll no. 5/05. 17  PICARELLI, John and SHELLEY, Louise. “Organized Crime and Terrorism”, in J. Giraldo and Harold Trinkunas (eds.) Terrorist Financing and State Responses: A Comparative Perspective, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007, p. 44; ESCOBAR STEMMAN, Juan José. “Cómo luchar contra Al Qaeda” “How to fight Al Queda, Política exterior Foreign policy, vol. 18, nº 99, 2004, pp. 15-22. 18  DOWARD, Jamie. “How cigarette smuggling fuels Africa´s islamist violence”, The Guardian, 27/1/2013. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/27/cigarette-smuggling-mokhtarbelmokhtar terrorism. 19  WANNENBURG, Gail. “Links Between Organised Crime and al-Qaeda”, South African Journal of International Affairs, 2003, vol. 10, nº 2, pp. 77-90. 20  International Crisis Group. “Jemaah Islamiyah In South East Asia: Damaged But Still Dangerous,” International Crisis Group Asia Report. 63, 26/8/2003. Available at: http://www.seasite.niu.edu 21  DE LA CORTE, Luis and JORDÁN, Javier. La yihad terrorista The terrorist jihad, Madrid:


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