-Caveat Lector- > > 4. Sting unravels stunning Mafia plot > http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Jan/12/front_page/NUKE12.htm > Third of four parts By Jeffrey Fleishman > INQUIRER STAFF WRITER > ROME - At a little past noon last Feb. 10, an undercover agent with a > graying mustache entered the Cafe de Paris on Via Veneto, a block > fromthe > American Embassy. Shaded by magnolias, the cafe is ideal for clandestine > criminal meetings; radio and satellite waves beaming from the > embassycreate> static on police eavesdropping equipment. > The police agent, posing as an Egyptian businessman, ordered > anespresso and > waited. A few minutes later, two mafiosi arrived at the cafe intent > on > selling theagent a 28-inch-long cylinder containing a 190-gram bar of > enriched> uranium.The Italian Mafia, infamous for money laundering and > drug-running, was> branching into nuclear smuggling. > A Sicilian dressed in a blazer did most of the talking. Soon theagent > was> surrounded by several other men - including a known mob assassin - > allwith> semiautomatic pistols inside their jackets. > ``At the first meeting both sides are very alert, nervous,'' theagent > said> later. ``You feel a moment of danger run through things. They study > you,trying> to unmask identity. It is not like a movie. There are no second > takes.You only> have one chance to get it right. > ``I had to convince them I was the kind of guy who would buy abomb.'' > This nuclear tale began unfolding months earlier, when a > Mafiaturncoat > tipped an Italian prosecutor about a stockpile of uranium the mob > waspeddling. > The case - which officials first regarded as a hoax - turned seriouswhen > the> Mafia boasted of possessing a laundry list of radioactive > materials,including > eight missiles from the former Soviet Union. Authorities quicklyfinessed > a > sting called Operation Gamma, depositing millions of dollars in a > Swissbank > account and giving one detective a Geiger counter and a crash course > innuclear> physics. What they uncovered stunned them: An organized- crime > syndicate not > only hadmanaged to obtain nuclear material but also was boldly trying to > sell it> toanyone willing to pay $112 million. > The case opened a frightening new chapter in nuclear > proliferation.For the > first time, authorities documented a significant link between the moband > loose > nukes. Three powerful Mafia families had joined forces to smuggleuranium > through Europe and into the Middle East. The development added one > moreworry > for Western governments already concerned about professional thieves and > small-time opportunists seeking to trade in the nuclear black market. > With terrorist groups and rogue states eager to build crude > nuclearweapons, > and with Russia's nuclear arsenal left vulnerable by economic chaos, the > Mafia's hawking of uranium further raises the nuclear stakes in > thepost-Cold > War era. ``Uranium bars are weapons in psychological terrorism,'' > said Enrico > Sgrilli, a nuclear physicist who trained police in nuclear physics. ``A > terrorist can hold one bar up and panic an entire city. This case > shakesthe > confidence in our system for controlling illegal nuclear materials. > Itshows> there are dangerous loopholes.'' > Police confiscated the 190-gram uranium bar. But police > andintelligence > officials acknowledge they failed to capture the mob's entire > stockpile.They > speculate that seven other bars - comprising 1,330 grams of uranium -are > most> likely hidden in Italy. > ``There are other bars out there,'' said Gen. Mario > Iannelli,commander of > the Finance Police unit on organized crime, which directed the > sting.``This is > very scary. . . . We don't exactly know what uranium the mob has > becausewe > never saw all of what it was selling.'' > Intelligence officials say there is one more unnerving > possibility:The mob> may actually be holding eight Russian missiles. > The Italian investigation netted 14 mobsters from three > crimefamilies. It > entailed dozens of hours of wiretaps and secret meetings, > hopscothingfrom Rome> to Sicily and from Calbria to the Alps. > Laced throughout the operation's danger were comical moments > asmobsters > nicknamed ``the Mustache'' and ``the Other One'' haggled over trust > andmoney.> One Mafia lieutenant brought his mother along to check a Swiss > bankaccount. > During a wiretapped conversation, one mobster asked another how > theEgyptian> businessman would pay for the uranium. > ``They move [money] through banks, right?'' > ``Yes, of course, you think they'd do it with a suitcase? We got > bignumbers > here.'' As the investigation broadened, Italian authorities learned > that> enricheduranium moves through a global network propelled as much by > political > instability as by criminals. The uranium bar police confiscated was > manufactured in San Diego in 1971 and shipped to Zaire for fuel in a > nuclear-research reactor. The bar was slipped out of Zaire in 1997 > -along with > as many as seven similar uranium bars, police say - as rebels overthrew > dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. > The uranium soon appeared on the European black market and drew > theMafia's> attention. > Among those arrested were Marco Murroni, who has ties to the > Palermomob, > and Sergio Tringale, of the Santapaola clan from Catania. Thecooperation > between criminal gangs indicates that the Mafia's network is > wideninginto > nuclear material that can be trafficked to North African and > MiddleEastern > nations or terrorist groups. > Equally troubling to authorities was the Mafia's nonchalance > inhandling > radioactive material. The uranium bar was hauled around in car trunks.At > one> point, according to police, a mobster sealed a small crack in the > barwith a> blow torch. > ``The Mafia didn't have the tools or the science to determine > whatthey > had,'' said Sebastiano Ardita, an assistant prosecutor in Catania. > ``Ithink> they thought they were really selling a nuclear warhead. It's > humorousand> frightening at the same time. > ``They want to control a market they don't understand. What > issignificant > is that this case shows new horizons for the Mafia. They're willing > toviolate> U.N. treaties and deal with terrorists and rogue states.'' > Even now, the undercover agent becomes anxious when discussing > thesting. In > a three-hour interview, given on the condition that his identity not be > revealed, the agent described how he fooled the Mafia. His > interview,along > with information from Italian authorities, prosecutors, > intelligenceofficials > and surveillance tapes, provided the basis for this account. > When the agent stepped through the polished doors of Cafe de Parison > Feb.> 10, he was uncertain what kind of uranium the Mafia was peddling. > After espressos, the mobsters invited the agent to lunch on > theoutskirts of> Rome. The agent and four mafiosi filed into a Mercedes and > crisscrossedRome's > streets, the men staring at the agent to see if he recognized landmarks. > ``As we would begin negotiating the deal,'' the agent recalled, ``the > criminals want to control the situation. That's why we left the cafe > andheaded > to a nondescript restaurant on a hill with only one road leading to > it.This> was their turf. They controlled everything, including the waiters > andeven the > diners. ``You want to enter into their good graces, but not become > too > casual. I ama businessman. I speak directly to their leader.'' > Talk suddenly turned from soccer to uranium. The men wanted > $112million for > what they described as uranium and, at various times, either > componentsfor > eight Russian nuclear missiles or nuclear material from their > warheads;they> never actually produced missiles for inspection. > The undercover agent, code-named the Accountant, countered with > anoffer to > pay $12.2 million for each uranium item over a period of time. On the > commercial market, the amount of uranium the Mafia claimed to have > mighthave > sold for $60,000 to $100,000, according to Italian police. But on > theblack > market, where buyers want to turn the material into nuclear weapons,that > price> rises substantially, the agent said. > There was haggling. But the Mafia wanted a quick score, and > finallythe > $12.2 million price was agreed upon. > After lunch, everyone shook hands. The Sicilians said they > wouldcontact the > agent to set up the next meeting. The agent was offered a ride back > toCafe de > Paris. ``I said I wanted to take a taxi, but they insisted,'' the > agent > said. ``I > had them drop me off at a subway station. I knew I was being followed. > Igot on> one subway, and while the doors were closing I jumped off and took > atrain in> the opposite direction.'' > The agent disappeared through the streets of Rome, wondering if hehad > convinced them, wondering if the Mafia would call again as promised. > Uranium bar No. 6916 was manufactured in 1971 by General Atomics > inSan > Diego. It was part of the Atoms for Peace program begun in 1953 by > President > DwightD. Eisenhower to encourage nonviolent uses of nuclear materials. > Underthe > program, the United States exported enriched uranium and plutonium > andassisted> its allies in developing nuclear fuel for research reactors. > Thecountries> agreed in return not to secretly stockpile nuclear weapons. > Atoms for Peace and related programs shipped 749 kilograms > ofplutonium and > 26.6 metric tons of highly enriched uranium to 39 countries over > threedecades,> according to the U.S. Energy Department and the Nuclear > RegulatoryCommission. > About half of the uranium was enriched to at least 90 percent, meaningit > was> weapons-usable. > Bar No. 6916, which was 20 percent enriched, was shipped to a TrigaII > research reactor in Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1972 - one of at least 10 > barssent to > Zaire under the program. The Triga II reactor replaced Africa's > firstnuclear > reactor, built in 1959. Rich in uranium, Zaire was crucial to Cold War > strategies, and the United States did not want Mobutu drifting > towardMoscow. > The Triga II reactor was used in agricultural research and togenerate > radioisotopes for the hospital at the University of Kinshasa. Wracked by > instability, Zaire quit funding the reactor in 1988. It was shut down > in1992, > when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission blocked shipment of acrucial > mechanical part for the reactor. > The International Atomic Energy Agency noted that some uranium > wasmissing> from the reactor facility during the 1980s. By 1997, when rebel > forcestoppled> Mobutu, the facility had become even more vulnerable. > Italian investigators believe Mobutu's entourage carted out the > bar,perhaps > in a diplomatic pouch, when the dictator escaped to France and then > toMorocco> before his death on Sept. 7, 1997. > At some point, the bar surfaced on the black market and found its > wayto the> Mafia. Gaetano Fiamingo was a money launderer, a mover of > contraband, a > hustlerwho heard things. In late 1997, he was facing arrest and, > possibly, jail > time.During a police interrogation, Fiamingo agreed to work with > undercover> agentsin setting up the uranium sting. > Fiamingo had learned of the Mafia's uranium in a December 1997meeting > with> Sergio Tringale, a member of the Santapaola clan in Catania, and > MarcoMurroni,> who was connected to the Palermo Mafia. > The uranium, police now say, was controlled by a clan in > Calabriaknown as > ``Ndrangheta.'' The organization, which specialized in drug-running > andarms> trading, had forged strong ties with criminal groups in Rome. The > Romanand > Calabrian gangs informed clans in Palermo and Catania of their desire to > cooperate in selling the uranium cache for $112 million to anunspecified > Middle East country. > It was the third time in two years that uranium trafficking drew the > attention of Italian authorities. In 1996, police in Germany and > Italyarrested > 11 people in a plot to broker uranium and other radioactive materials > toNorth> African countries. The materials, which were never confiscated, > wereallegedly > to be supplied to the Italian Mafia by a Russian gang connected to > aformer KGB> officer nicknamed ``the Major.'' > A second nuclear deal also was foiled by Italian police in > 1996,alerting > authorities that uranium was seeping out of Zaire. Police arrested > aSicilian > arms dealer and a Portuguese businessman on charges of smuggling a > smallamount> of enriched uranium through Zaire and into Italy. The uranium > wasconfiscated > in Sicily. The scheme Fiamingo was orchestrating was more dangerous > and > morewidespread. > Wiretaps on Fiamingo's phone in late 1997 and early 1998, when he was > cooperating with police, revealed that the Roman, Calabrian and > Siciliangangs> were nervous and eager to sell their uranium. > As the middleman, Fiamingo was responsible for the deal. In askillful > game > of persuasion, he asked the mafiosi for photos and documentation of the > uranium, reassuring the clans that he was negotiating with an Egyptian > businessman. On Dec. 12, 1997, according to court records, > mobsterTringale > phoned Fiamingo demanding to know more about the mysterious buyer. > ``That friend of yours, can you track him?'' Tringale asked. > ``No,'' Fiamingo replied. `` . . . We want to know.'' > ``I don't know where to find him.'' > ``Our feet are tied, so let's watch it,'' Tringale said. ``We want > toknow> who he is, every last detail.'' > ``I know, but retrieving him now is impossible.'' > Despite the Mafia's suspicions, the ruse was working. > By early 1998, the undercover agent posing as an Egyptian > businessmanhad> mobsters believing his vague hints that he was linked to a > terroristgroup or > backed by a radical Middle Eastern country determined to detonatenuclear > Armageddon. On a cell-phone call placed through Fiamingo, they asked > fora > second meeting. > On Feb. 26 - 16 days after the meeting in Cafe de Paris - the > agentarrived> at Rome's Tiburtina train station. He was accompanied by a > secondundercover > officer, code-named the Engineer, who played the role of a > nuclearscientist> hired by the Egyptian to test the uranium. > Three mafiosi met the agents outside the train station. The > agentsfollowed> the men to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Rome. > The Engineer carried an aluminum briefcase and a bag containing > aGeiger > counter, a German-made plastic scintillometer that measures radioactive > emissions, a contamination monitor, and a zip-up protective suit > andgloves. > Surrounded by mafiosi, he entered the warehouse. Now a moment of > truthhad > arrived in this game of deception. The Engineer had received only > aperfunctory> lesson in nuclear physics. > If the Mafia had thought to bring in its own expert scientist, the > Engineer's cover would be blown. > ``We had to quickly teach him to sell smoke,'' said Sgrilli, > thenuclear > physicist and chief investigator for Italy's environmental department. > ``I was amazed at the difficult nuclear concepts picked up by > thepolice. We > taught them how to use instruments and take measurements. . . . I > toldthem > that neutrons were kind of like a swarm of bees trying to escape. We > hadto > convey the feeling that the mob was dealing with a professional nuclear > criminal.'' Lacking a scientist of its own, the mob was duped as the > Engineer> waved his > instruments over the uranium and carefully registered the measurements. > During the Engineer's 10-minute inspection, the agent posing as > theEgyptian > businessman waited outside with four men. The deal was furtherdiscussed. > It> had been agreed that if the first bar contained enriched uranium, > theagent> might buy seven other bars the Mafia claimed to hold. > ``I noticed that one of the criminals standing outside with me > wasweak, > someone who talked,'' the agent said. ``I could tell he was greedy > andattached > to money. I went to have a smoke with him so I could try to get him > totell me> where the other bars were.'' > No luck. The Engineer walked out of the warehouse as two > mobstersloaded the > bar into a red Fiat Uno and quickly drove away. The Engineer hadverified > one> important thing: The Mafia was not peddling a hoax. The needle on > theGeiger> counter twitched; the uranium was radioactive. > Later that day, physicist Sgrilli received the news: > ``I will remember the phone call for the rest of my life,'' > Sgrillisaid. > ``The police wanted to know how they could measure the enrichment of the > uranium. That's a terrifying question. That meant that they > haddiscovered > radioactivity. I was scared. Was it a crude bomb? How much > contaminationcould> it spread? We did not know what we were dealing with.'' > The sale of the first bar would go down the next afternoon. Sale > day. > The undercover agent posing as the Egyptian businessman drove northto > Switzerland on Feb. 27. The Engineer headed to a small office > connectedto a > Mafia-controlled apartment building at Via Monti di Petralta in Rome. > The plan was for the Engineer to enter the office and reinspect > theuranium. > If it was quality material, the Engineer would approve the deal > bycalling the > Egyptian waiting at a bank just across the Italian border in Chiasso, > Switzerland. There, the Egyptian would meet two Mafia contacts > andtransfer > $12.2 million from an account set up by police into a Mafia account. > The plot was playing smoothly until Swiss police - cooperating > withItalian> authorities - inadvertently pulled over the Mercedes carrying > mobstersTringale > and Armando Carbone to the bank. The Swiss officers, whose role was > tostop the> mobsters after the transaction, mistakenly thought the Mercedes > wasleaving the > bank. When they realized the mix-up, the police made it seem like > aroutine > traffic stop and let the Mercedes go. > An hour later, at 4:36 p.m., Tringale grabbed his cellular phone near > Chiasso. He called a mob contact back in Rome, complaining that the bank > manager was creating obstacles over the transaction and that he > sensedpolice> were staking out the bank. > The mobsters grew suspicious. ``A very small thing like that, even a > coincidence, created danger,'' said the undercover agent. ``These > guyswere > careful people, and after that they decided to cancel the deal.'' > The mafiosi sped south toward Italy. > The Engineer knew none of this. He was 400 miles away with > armedmobsters in > the Mafia's office in Rome, guarded by three Mafia-trained > rottweilers.The > Engineer was inspecting the uranium with a Geiger counter and, > accordingto a> police recording, told the mafiosi: > ``It's good for me. I think we can pay. Yes, now we can pay. I'llmake > the> phone call.'' > ``We had to move fast,'' said Gen. Iannelli, commander of the > FinancePolice > organized-crime unit. ``The whole operation almost blew up.'' > Undercover policemen - posing as pedestrians, sanitation > workers,painters, > and even a man on a moped - had earlier been stationed around the > officeand > apartment building. They were alerted to the unraveling sting andquickly > jumped over walls and fences, bolting across the courtyard to theoffice. > A > helicopter ferrying a SWAT team circled overhead. > ``The agents had their guns out and moved so quickly that they > scaredthe> rottweilers away,'' Iannelli said. ``They were across the > courtyardwithin six > seconds and even the two [mobsters] standing out front of the > apartmentdidn't> know what was happening.'' > Once inside the office, several agents began shouting in > gibberishthey > hoped the mobsters would think was Hebrew, Iannelli said. ``If > theythought the > agents were Israelis, they might talk immediately,'' he said.``Remember, > these> people were selling uranium to a Middle East businessman, and if > theythought> the Israelis were raiding them, the impact would be emotional. > ``But we abandoned that after a few seconds. The mobsters said,`Where > are> you coming from?' We identified ourselves.'' > The uranium bar recovered by police weighed about 190 grams > andcontained > 38 grams of the isotope U-235, a key ingredient for a nuclear bomb. > Theuranium > was nearly 20 percent enriched - not enough to build a bomb but enoughto > unleash radiation that could sicken thousands of people. A sophisticated > nuclear bomb requires 90 percent enriched uranium. But for a terrorist > organization or a rogue state stockpiling uranium, those 38 grams > couldhave> been an important step in building a crude nuclear explosive. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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