Word: ransoms
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...mainly cargo ships that pass through the Suez Canal annually. There are several gangs of pirates; armed with Kalashnikov rifles and traveling on small fishing boats and skiffs, they have attacked more than 80 ships and hijacked at least 30, collecting anywhere from $18 million to $30 million in ransom, according to the British strategic think tank Chatham House. Big paydays have made them progressively bolder: one gang is still holding on to the MV Faina, the Ukrainian freighter carrying a consignment of Russian tanks that was hijacked on Sept...
...test" for the new minister, say some. But only a week into his new appointment, Atmar appears to be passing with flying colors. On Monday, he oversaw the rescue and release of two prominent Afghan businessmen who had been kidnapped by a criminal gang and held to ransom for millions of dollars. What remains to be seen, however, is whether he can bring the kidnappers to justice. His next task will be to stop a new round of suicide bombings before they start...
...authorities in Puntland and elsewhere in Somalia does little to inspire confidence. The pirates operate their increasingly lucrative industry with impunity from a number of fishing villages along the Puntland coast, where they currently hold at least 12 vessels, and more than 200 of their crew members, awaiting ransom payments. The best known of these is the Ukrainian freighter MV Faina, and its cargo of tanks and other weapons, hijacked almost a month ago, although some 73 vessels have been captured this year netting the pirates as much as $30 million in ransom payments...
...nabbed the nine men scouting a passing ship 100 miles off Somalia's coast and found their boat laden with assault rifles, grenade launchers, and grappling hooks, they simply confiscated the boats and gear, and handed the men over to the authorities on shore. The estimated $30 million in ransom payments that has flowed into pirate coffers in the area over the past year will easily pay for replacement equipment, and even in the remarkable event that the nine remain behind bars, there's no shortage of recruits to one of Somalia's few booming industries...
...Still, the truck drivers weren't concerned about the Taliban as much as they were worried about the predations of police officials who charged exorbitant bribes at checkpoints. And the kidnappers they feared were the criminals who charge ransom, and who often work in cahoots with police - who refuse to track them down...