A REWARD of $100,000 is being offered to anyone providing vital information about illicit cargo of narcotics and weapons in the region, leading to successful seizures.
The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet has launched the new programme to clamp down on illegal smuggling of suspicious cargoes.
This comes as the incidences of smuggling of drugs and weapons by sea continue, with Fifth Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Brad Cooper highlighting in May that last year drugs worth about $500 million were seized, more than the four previous years combined, and 9,000 weapons, which were three times more than the previous year.
“This is the first time that the US naval forces in the Middle East are offering up to $100,000 reward for a potential tip that leads to successful seizures by the Fifth Fleet,” Fifth Fleet spokesperson Commander Timothy Hawkins told the GDN exclusively.
“Anyone can contact us and submit a tip via our website (cusnc.navy.mil) and a dedicated hotline, details of which will be announced this week.”
Callers can submit tips in Arabic, Farsi, English and other languages, while the submission on the website can also be done in multiple languages.
Verify
“Every tip submitted will be translated by the US Navy staff following which it will be assessed and verified.
“If during the vetting process it turns out to be a genuine tip, it will be acted upon for a successful seizure at sea.”
The whistle-blower can receive the reward in cash, via electronic transfer or even in kind such as vehicle, boat, equipment, etc.
“Caller details will be kept strictly confidential and there is a protocol in place to ensure the information remains secure,” added Commander Hawkins.
He said they were specifically looking for tips that lead to countering terrorism operations in the Middle East.
“We are looking at nefarious means to finance terrorism through illegal smuggling that helps fund groups.
“It can also be related to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), weapons cache and information about potential terrorist acts against US personnel or property.”
The GDN reported last month that a $15m reward was being offered by the US for information about financial operations aiding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its proxies, including any entities operating illegally in Bahrain.
It’s part of the US State Department’s new plan under the Rewards for Justice Programme to disrupt IRGC financial mechanisms to fund terrorist attacks and unsettling activities.
Key information sought related to the IRGC sources of revenue such as front companies, groups and individuals evading US and international sanctions.
“Our focus is to further enhance maritime security and ensure free flow of commerce,” said Commander Hawkins.
“We would like to stress that if the information we receive is more valuable, then it has a higher reward potential.”
The Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), a multinational coalition naval task force working under the Bahrain-based 34-nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), monitors, boards, inspects and stops suspect shipping in pursuance of the ‘Global War on Terrorism’.
The CMF has four task forces: CTF 150 (counter-terrorism and maritime security operations), CTF 151 (anti-piracy operations), CTF 152 (Gulf maritime security operations) and CTF 153 focused on maritime security and partner capacity building in the Red Sea, Bab Al Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden.
In January, US Navy ships operating under the Fifth Fleet interdicted tonnes of material known to be used as an “explosives precursor” from a stateless fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
The stateless boat was transiting from Iran in waters outside of any state’s territorial sea along a route historically used to traffic weapons to the Houthis in Yemen.
Forty tonnes of urea fertiliser, a chemical compound with agricultural applications that is also known to be used as an explosive precursor, were found.
An explosives precursor is a chemical substance that can be made into an explosive with relative ease, for instance, by mixing or blending with other substances, or by simple chemical processing.
sandy@gdnmedia.bh
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