Operation White Terror (Essay Sample)

Operation White Terror Name Institution Operation White Terror Introduction Christened as the Operation White Terror, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigative operation to look into the then (2001) issue of terror-drug agreements between nations (Sanderson, 2004). Notably, several people like the Ex-Danish Member of Parliament (MP) was charged for being in the forefront of selling weaponry, facilitating drug dealing (cocaine), and supporting terrorist, a charge that saw him serve a 12-year jail term in the United States (U.S) prison. Specifically, the essay scrutinizes, through the lenses of law, the conspiracies around the East German arms, Colombian cocaine, ex-Stasi spies, and the endeavors of the U.S FBI to solve the problems. The paper details how people got involved in the drug-weapon scheme in which massive military weapon purchase was to be done by Colombian representatives. Carlos Romero, under the assistance of Uwe Jensen, Bernd Schlegel, Elkin Alberto Arroyave-Ruiz, and Edgar Fernando Blanco-Puerta, worked on the deal; while the FBI predetermined and blocked the business. Operation White Terror-What it is Maybe the fundamentality to get to the roots of the operation white terror is pressing, and that is the focus of this section; what it is as well as what caused it are detailed here; perhaps we start with the latter case-what caused the operation white terror. As reports indicate, a stunning meeting happened between Carlos Romero, Uwe Jensen, and Bernd Schlegel (unofficial name) in the year 2001 at the Men's Club string joint in Houston. As argued by Stark (2005), Romero was a representative of an extreme right-wing Colombian paramilitary terror institution with the name the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Besides, his partner, Schlegel was an officer in the East German armed force identified as the National People's Army and also, Uwe was a U.S citizen based in Houston (Stark, 2007). So what transpired in that meeting? According to the Colombian representative, the nation, he represented needed serious arms to utilize in guerrilla wars of the jungle and therefore looks forward to link up with Eastern Europe and the Soviet army former generals ready to sell the ammunition on the black market. Unanimously, the three agree that the deal was possible, and money was not a problem and Schlegel, an expert in this kind of trade, expressed his willingness to see the transaction through. Moreover, his ready-for-war state in which he had 2.2-caliber wooden weaponry (a pistol) which claimed his experience with the risks associated with such businesses (FBI, 2016). Money was not a problem, so where was it to be obtained? Romero offered to pay for the ammunitions with what he termed as the most valuable currency the world over, and that was cocaine! The negotiations sounded good, but what the dealers failed to understand was the presence of the FBI within the closure who recorded every detail of their conversations, and that turned out to be the root of the operation white terror (FBI, 2016). The Operation White Terror by the FBI investigated into the Colombian paramilitary conspiracy for several years within different countries; with the operation emerging as one of the ten best inquiries of the period following the 2011 terror attack. In this in-depth operation, the people under federal investigation were pressed and spurred by undercover officers until they found themselves crossing to illegality. That is exactly how the FBI was able to identify the terror-drug crime before its full execution and consequently prevented it all from taking the course (FBI, 2016). Who in particular did the FBI identify as the crime perpetrators? According to the final findings of the FBI, the major players in the drug-for-weaponry scheme that may have led to a massive purchase of military weapons for the AUC in an exchange with cocaine were four namely Jensen, Romero-Varela, Elkin Alberto Arroyave-Ruiz, and Edgar Fernando Blanco-Puerta (Stark, 2007). Perhaps taking a sharp insight into the case analysis of how the operation white terror came up with these findings as well as the charges pressed against the perpetrators would give a clear insight into the whole scheme and operation. Operation White Terror-Case Analysis It is essential to verify how the FBI predetermined and barred the drug-weapon scheme in detail and scrutinize the court charges pressed against those found guilty and what the result meant to the U.S and the world as a whole. First, how did the FBI predetermine and prevent the scheme from execution? According to the FBI (2016) report, just four days after the 9/11 terror attacks, Uwe Jensen approached one of their secret sources where he realized that the sources had links in Eastern Europe that may be a leeway to the purchase of massive military weapons for the AUC. Hence, Jansen and Carlos Ali Romero-Varela were reported to have introduced negotiations in Houston to buy Warsaw Pact weapons valued at $25 million cocaine pack; and the several undercover agents monitored the proceedings, noting that Romero had a CD-ROM weapon catalog that was shared with the AUC leaders in Colombia. Furthermore, two AUC leaders of high status namely Elkin Albert Arroyave-Ruiz (Commandant Napo) and Edgar Fernando Blanco-Puerto (Commandant Emilio) appeared to have placed their order from the catalog. They requested for shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles with the inclusion of 9000 assault rifles-sub-machine guns, AK-47s, and sniper rifles; rocket-propelled grenade launchers as well as about 300,000 grenades alongside 300 pistols (Stark, 2007). These were enough suspicions to intrigue pronounced investigations, and the FBI did just that, the conception of what would be called the Operation White Terror today. Hence, the FBI sent some undercover agents to plan a deal with the AUC members in several regions including London, Panama, as well as the Virgin Islands to set a trap, or other, to establish a concrete evidence of the scheme. Hence, a deal saw the Defense Department loan out weapons and deliver them to Virgin Islands' St. Croix and Barrera de Amaris checked out the arsenal as planned and video cameras were obtained for evidence (Bjorgo, 2014). With the concrete evidence availed, the judiciary was put to task to offer verdict judgment of the drug-weapon scheme perpetrators and what transpired is as discussed below. The court rulings were based on the idea that there is a close relationship between terrorism and illegal drugs as constitutionally documented, and that drug income is an important revenue source for terrorist organizations like Colombia's AUC. Hence, with the operation white terror aiming t...