Employees and pilots working for a security company are still being held in Mogadishu after they were arrested on May 24, 2011 by authorities at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport. The six individuals were detained when a check of the aircraft discovered duffel bags carrying $3.6 million in US currency.
The group was comprised of one Americans, three Britons, and two Kenyans who had just flown in from the Nairobi area. The cash was to pay the ransoms for two pirate-held vessels, the MV Suez ($1.5M) and MV Yuan Xiang ($2.1M).
Britons Andrew Oaks and Alex James work for the security firm Salama Flkira. Salama Flkira is based in Nairobi Kenya and Mauritius and run by former British Army Special Air Service (SAS) man Rob Andrew OBE. His co-partner, Conrad Thorpe OBE, was formerly a member of the Royal Marines and the Special Boat Service (SBS). They are known providers of maritime security and other security related services in the region. Conrad Thorpe was well known for training anti poaching crews in the Congo. Rob Andrew has made public appearances on maritime security practices on behalf of the company.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Somalia told Somalia Report that Phoenix Aviation Ltd., owners of the two aircraft, requested permission to land at Mogadishu Airport, claiming a cargo of “humanitarian aid.” Reporting from the Daily Nation on May 31, 2011, implied that the planes based at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi were given special clearance before flying to Somalia on United Nations missions, but appeared to be modified and intended to drop money onto ships hijacked by pirates.
Aircraft Modified To Drop Ransoms
Somali airport personnel confirmed that these two aircraft had transited Mogadishu airport at least four previous times this year, though they did not know the reasons given by the pilots for their landings and takeoffs. All aircraft flights in and over Somalia must file and get approval for flight plans from the United Nations. Aircraft staff also told Somalia Report that these aircraft were regularly diverted to more secure areas of the airport with approval of the National Security Office (NSO).
The aircraft involved is a Cessna Citation small business jet, which had arrived from the Seychelles with the ransom money, and a Cessna Caravan single-engine airplane, which was modified to perform the actual money drops onto ships These drops also involve a GPS guided parachute with the coordinates of the target ship steering the package onto the deck of the ship. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the planes had been in operation locally for at least the last two years.
Senior Somali government officials publicly praised the seizure and stated that the men would he held in custody until the investigation was concluded. Publicly the TFG does not approve the payment of ransoms to pirates but has little way to enforce the edict. The men are being confined to a single room at a local police station until an official determination of their fate is decided. Their legal status or charges have yet to be announced.
The money was moved by the men to the Central Bank of Somalia.
These arrests were unusual – and ultimately embarrassing – for the Mogadishu authorities in that the processing of aircraft delivering ransom monies have typically been approved at the highest levels of government, as the government seeks to assist maritime nations in the safe return of the detained ships and hostages. It has been a tacit agreement that the movement of resupply ships from Mombassa and aircraft from the smaller commercial airports in Nairobi be kept as deniable but functional. When the crew and aircraft were detained, the employees of the security company honestly claimed that the monies were to be used as ransom payments for two hijacked vessels, the MV Suez and MV Yuan Ziang. They further explained that they not only had prior governmental permission to land at Mogadishu Airport, but also permission to offload the monies to a second, similarly cleared plane for further transportation. They were still taken from the airport, driven to the bank and detained without formal charges.
What makes this event more suspect is that the airport staff and Somali law officers had been assigned to protect the ransom flights upon arrival, and had served as representatives to ensure the smooth flow of the landing, cash transfer process, as well as the departure of the second aircraft.
Police Spokesman Abdullahi Hassan Barise said, “We learned that the money was to be offloaded from the first plane onto a second aircraft for delivery to a location nearer to the pirates, from where the latter would take possession, and as was promised in the terms of the exchange, then release the two vessels and their crew."
Two Mombasa-based shipping companies are used to fuel, restock and re-crew freed ships. To ensure safe delivery and prevent further piracy three local Kenya airlines are often used to deliver ransom directly to the pirated ships.
Lawyers’ fees for these incidents can typically reach $200,000, while crisis consultant fees and expenses may range upwards of $350,000 and actual delivery of the ransom payments can cost upwards of $350,000.
Background on Ships
-August 2, 2010: Pirates seized Egyptian vessel, MV Suez, on August 2, 2010, with a crew of 6 Indians, 4 Pakistanis, on board as she transited from Pakistan to Eritrea. She is managed by Red Sea Navigation Company based in Port Tawfik, Egypt.It is worth noting that this is not the first time foreign personnel working on ransom operations or expensive aircraft have been detained in Somalia. In September 2009, a Briton, a Kenyan (both members of a security firm operating our of Nairobi, Kenya) and crews of two small aircraft were arrested in Puntland while working to secure the release of three hostages, via exchanging them not for money, as is most common, but rather in trade for 23 pirates that had previously been “obtained” under unknown circumstances.-November 13, 2010: Panamanian–flagged MV Yuan Xiang was seized approximately 650 miles nautical miles east of Salalah, Oman, with a complement of 29 Chinese crewmen. The vessel is owned by Ningbo Hongyuan Ship Management, Ltd.
The Briton was described by authorities in Puntland as a “facilitator” whose role was to secure this transaction. Both he and his Kenyan partner were eventually released; however, the hostages, plane crews, and two additional facilitators were detained by Puntland authorities after landing at Galkayo. Their fate has not been reported thought it is believed they remain in detention.
Our sources say that although the TFG wants to see the men put on trial, they will likely be released within days and the only charges will be filed regarding a violation of Somali airspace, not criminal charges. This has not been officially confirmed.
On December 10, Somaliland seized an Antonov flying in construction equipment and work uniforms for a newly established Puntland Marine Force under the false pretense that South African mercenaries and weapons were on board. UN weapons inspectors arrived to find that not only had the aircraft filed a flight plan but that the men on board were a famous CBS 60 Minutes journalist team from South Africa. The journalists were held for ten days and released and the crew was charged with violating a UN arms embargo and fined $600. The cargo was never returned.
For now the $3.6 million in cash and the crew await their fate.