Terror concerns in baby formula thefts

UPI
Sep. 03, 2006

This is not a joke.CLEVELAND, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A Cleveland grocer has been arrested in an alleged baby formula theft ring, a potential source of funding for terrorist groups abroad, officials said.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Sunday that Hasana Abdalla allegedly planned to purchase a truckload of stolen formula, something that was apparently common for him, having previously purchased a dozen truckloads.

Abdalla had $100,000 cash and headed to Akron to close the deal, but this time it was a setup, the Plain Dealer said. Local and federal officials swooped in, seized Abdalla's money, impounded his red 2006 Mercedes and arrested him in a nationwide crackdown on the lucrative black-market trade in baby formula.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, federal officials from North Carolina to Texas have broken up theft rings dealing in large quantities of baby formula and health and beauty products, such as diabetes test strips and contact lens solution.

Most of the half-dozen alleged ringleaders arrested have been of Middle Eastern descent. Federal officials have repeatedly said they worry the profits may be funding terrorism, but none of the 11 baby-formula cases reviewed by The Plain Dealer involved terror-related charges.












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