Does an Al Qaeda Operative Own New York Pharmacies?
It's difficult to keep up with the information coming out from Wikileaks. Unsurprisingly, a lot of it requires specialized knowledge and background to understand its significance. And the information is, at times, nothing more than false leads.
David Corn over at Mother Jones ran down some information in a couple of the documents. A detainee assessment identified a Pakistani pharmacist suspected of ties to Al Qaeda. Corn figures out that the man owns four pharmacies in New York and an herbal shop in Karachi. He calls the various businesses and meets resistance from family members, although they do tell him that the U.S. never interviewed the pharmacist.
Here's the dilemma. Either the information regarding this suspect is accurate or not. If it is, an Al Qaeda operative linked to biological and chemical weapons owns pharmacies in New York, giving him access to a variety of controlled substances that could be of use to terrorists. Though the US intelligence community possessed information about his Al Qaeda links at least three years ago, he's still running drug stores in a city that is a magnet for Al Qaeda attacks and which is now on high alert following Bin Laden's death. Alternately, if the information in this now-public document is incorrect, an innocent Pakistani businessman can easily be branded a terrorist, his life and businesses ruined, his family harmed, and his own safety jeopardized.
And that's what I'm wondering about, too. Now that the information is out, there will be countless identifications of possibly innocent, possibly not innocent operatives. Will we see the rise of freelance investigations?
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Comments :
Sep '10
Re: Does an Al Qaeda Operative Own New York Pharmacies?
How about normal-channel investigations?
It would be possible to divert controlled substances to Al-Qaeda for a relatively short time, but the accounting of these drugs is fairly tightly controlled. All states require the periodic counting of controlled drugs. The more widely abused ones, in the Schedule II category (Percocet, morphine, Ritalin), require exact counts and the subsequent submission of that tally to the appropriate state board.
Some states (I don't know about New York pharmacy law) even require an exact yearly count of all controlled substances. Some chain pharmacies do, too, and many go above and beyond the requirements of existing state law, since drug diversion by both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians is a big problem in this industry.
Plus, the New York State Board of Pharmacy could do a surprise inspection for any reason and look for any anomaly at any time. But doing so now at one of this pharmacist's stores would no doubt get the state board in political hot water.
Edited on May 9, 2011 at 9:05amApr '11
Re: Does an Al Qaeda Operative Own New York Pharmacies?
Dan Holmes: How about normal-channel investigations?
It would be possible to divert controlled substances to Al-Qaeda for a relatively short time, but the accounting of these drugs is fairly tightly controlled. All states require the periodic counting of controlled drugs. The more widely abused ones, in the Schedule II category (Percocet, morphine, Ritalin), require exact counts and the subsequent submission of that tally to the appropriate state board.
I think you may have a misconception as to what ought to be controlled in this situation. What are the people in the opium capital of the worl going to do with percocet?
Of greater interest might be the antibiotics that a hybridized anthrax strain would be susceptible to. That would be very useful information and could turn a major catastrophe into easily solved problem.
These drugs are, of course, not tightly controlled. infections should be easily subdued.
Edited on May 9, 2011 at 9:52amSep '10
Re: Does an Al Qaeda Operative Own New York Pharmacies?
Crab bait
Dan Holmes: How about normal-channel investigations?
...
I think you may have a misconception as to what ought to be controlled in this situation. What are the people in the opium capital of the worl going to do with percocet?
Of greater interest might be the antibiotics that a hybridized anthrax strain would be susceptible to. That would be very useful information and could turn a major catastrophe into easily solved problem.
These drugs are, of course, not tightly controlled. infections should be easily subdued. · May 9 at 9:47am
Edited on May 09 at 09:52 am
I was merely commenting on the part of the article referring to the possibility that the pharmacist could send some of his drugs to Al-Qaeda: I did not have in mind wanting to control someone or something per se.
Yes, the antibiotic ciprofloxacin could be handy against anthrax and could more easily be diverted. But any of the amphetamines (Dexedrine, e.g.) or methylphenidate (Ritalin), both Schedule-II drugs, could be used to keep an Al-Qaeda soldier awake for a long period, much in the same way these drugs are used for U.S. jet pilots or astronauts.