Terrorism - Suriname: Bouterse and Hezbollah possible threat to US national security

Recently  the BBC reported that Dino Bouterse, the son of Suriname President Desi Bouterse, is also being charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorist organization Hezbollah. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration claims that they have evidence showing that Bouterse was paid millions of dollars for a Hezbollah military base in Suriname and for providing them with weapons. The DEA claims that Hezbollah was planning attacks on the U.S. and the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the former colonial ruler of Suriname.

In August, Dino Bouterse was handed over to U.S. officials by Panamanian authorities. A U.S. federal indictment alleges that Bouterse worked with Edmund Quincy Muntslag a.k.a "Blue" to smuggle cocaine into the United States starting in or about December of 2011. In late June, Bouterse was caught smuggling a suitcase filled with 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cocaine and brandishing a anti-tank weapon aboard a commercial flight from Suriname to the Caribbean. Bouterse is facing a life sentence for the drugs and weapons he was caught with. On top of that he is facing a 15 year sentence for aiding terrorist organization Hezbollah.

The DEA claims that they have recorded meetings between Bouterse and undercover agents posing as Hezbollah fighters. The meetings took place in Panama and Greece. During these meetings Bouterse accepted a $2 million payment, with the promise that he would help Hezbollah fighters establish themselves in Suriname, give them Suriname passports, supply them with surface-to-air missiles and other weapons. He even promised that he would provide them with a list of weapons that they would be able to order via him. This isn't the first time that Bouterse has been arrested for international crimes. In 2005, he was sentenced to serve eight years in a Suriname prison after being found guilty of trafficking drugs, weapons and stolen cars. After serving only three years of his sentence, he was released for good behavior.

"Alleged criminals like [Dino] Bouterse and his facilitators pose a direct threat to the safety and security of the United States," said Michelle Leonhart. Leonhart is the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 2010, Bouterse's father, Dési Bouterse was elected president of Suriname. After the election, Bouterse' father named him the director of Suriname's Counter Terrorist Unit. In a nasty twist of fate, the DEA also has hard evidence proving that President Bouterse was in direct contact with the regions top convicted drug trafficker, Roger Khan. The satellite phone records of Khan show President Bouterse's cell phone number listed numerous times. The phone calls took place towards the end of 2005 until mid-June of 2006.

Read more: Bouterse and Hezbollah possible threat to US national security - Minneapolis Community Activism | Examiner.com

Suriname leader Bouterse distances himself from jailed son

President Desi Bouterse of Suriname distanced himself Tuesday from his son following the younger man's arrest and quick extradition to the United States to face drug and weapons charges.

The president told reporters that Dino Bouterse is an adult and no longer holds a government position with the South American country. 

"When people talk about Dino sometimes it sounds like they are talking to me about a 12-year-old," the president said. "But he is a grown man, with 13 children, who will turn 41. He is responsible for his own actions." 

Still, Bouterse, who said he was in shock when he first got word of the arrest, stressed that he was not abandoning his son and is making sure he has the legal assistance he needs. "I am the president, but I'm also Dino's father, and news like that does not leave you cold or unmoved," he said. 

The remarks were the first from the president since his son was arrested Thursday in Panama and quickly extradited to New York to face charges in a cocaine smuggling case. News of the younger man's arrest came as Suriname hosted UNASUR, the organization of South American nations. 

Bouterse has had frosty relations with the U.S. government over his own past, which includes presiding over a military dictatorship and being convicted in absentia in the Netherlands of drug trafficking, and he said the arrest was intended to "disrupt the UNASUR summit," though he did not explain what or who might be behind it. 

The president said he had asked his fellow South American leaders not to discuss his son's case. "I wanted to avoid the UNASUR being dragged into this whole matter," Bouterse told reporters. 

Desi Bouterse won the presidency of the ethnically diverse country, a former Dutch colony of about 500,000 people in May 2010 in a parliamentary vote after cobbling together a coalition that included former enemies in Suriname's bitter civil war. At the time, he was still a defendant in an off-again-on-again murder trial in the killing of 15 political opponents in 1982 and faced arrest at Netherlands' request following his conviction in absentia there for drug trafficking in 1999. 

In April 2012, the president's supporters in parliament pushed through amnesty legislation that put the murder trial on indefinite hold.

Read more: Suriname leader distances himself from jailed son | UTSanDiego.com

Suriname: US Embassy Says Son of Suriname President Bouterse ArrestedIn Panama - by Danica Coto

The son of the president of the South American country of Suriname( formerly a Dutch Colony)  has been arrested on U.S. drug charges, U.S. and other officials said Friday.

Spokeswoman Virginia Elliott at the U.S. Embassy in Paramaribo confirmed the arrest of Dino Bouterse, but said she could give no details.

A Panamanian and another U.S. official confirmed Thursday's arrest, which apparently occurred in Panama.
Bouterse faces a U.S. federal indictment in the Southern District of New York alleging he worked with a man identified as Edmund Quincy Muntslag to smuggle cocaine into the United States starting in or about December 2011. It also charges him with violating firearms laws by brandishing a light anti-tank weapon during the narcotics offense.

The indictment says Bouterse was involved in smuggling a suitcase filled with 10 kilograms (22 pounds)of cocaine aboard a commercial flight from Suriname to the Caribbean in late July.

A Panamanian government security source said that Bouterse was arrested by international police in Panama and was turned over to U.S. anti-drug authorities. The source, who asked anonymity for lack of authorization to speak on the issue, declined to give more details.

Melvin Linscheer, Suriname's head of national security, said the government would soon issue a statement. He declined further comment.

Bouterse is the son of Desi Bouterse, a former coup leader and also a convicted drug trafficker who was elected president of in July 2010. Shortly after his presidential inauguration, Bouterse appointed his son as director of Suriname's Counter Terrorist Unit, drawing heavy criticism from opposition legislators who expressed concern that no legal framework was created for the unit to operate.

Read more: US Embassy Says Son of Suriname President Arrested - ABC News