OC in Africa

[GangstersInc]

Underworld flabbergasted to discover 'Fat' Murphy is a hermaphrodite

'I look like a man, I talk like a man, I am a man'
Underworld flabbergasted to discover 'Fat' Murphy is a hermaphrodite
Jan 10, 2010 12:03 AM | By Shanaaz Eggington
On the drug-ravaged streets he's known as Fat Murphy. Feared by many, the burly suspected drug lord is clean-shaven and wears his second wife's name tattooed on his arm.
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NO OFFENCE: Fadwaan Murphy speaks to the Sunday Times about his gender this week
NO OFFENCE: Fadwaan Murphy speaks to the Sunday Times about his gender this week

quote 'God created me with both sexual organs. It was God's decision, not mine' quote

But the man who was banished from a crime-ridden suburb on the Cape Flats by furious residents protesting against alleged drug dealers has now been unmasked - as a hermaphrodite named Hilary.

Police and the underworld were shocked this week when Fadwaan "Fat" Murphy, 37, stood up in court to face charges of possession of stolen property, and declared under oath that he was born with both male and female sexual organs.

Police claim they discovered Murphy's "true" gender when a strap-on penis fell off while he was being searched during a raid at his Kuils River home two weeks ago.

A visibly upset Murphy was forced to discuss his gender during a bail application in the Blue Downs Magistrate's Court in Cape Town.

"I had a vagina that could not be penetrated. But I also had male organs, testes. But I always knew I was really a man and that was what I wanted to be," he told the court. A startled public gallery had to be told by court orderlies to keep quiet, as he dropped the bombshell.

Murphy applied for bail after being charged with possession of stolen property and corruption - police claimed he offered a member of the force R9 100 not to search him during the raid.

"I am what I am through the creation of God. I stand firm as a man, as a husband and as a father," he told the Sunday Times on Friday.

Murphy, who is persona non grata in Mitchells Plain after the community marched on his house in Lentegeur to protest against his alleged drug dealing, talked openly about his gender.

"God created me with both sexual organs. It was God's decision, not mine," he said.

"I was born with a disability that could have happened to anyone. Children have been born with two heads."

Murphy's mother, Faiza Allie, 59, told the Sunday Times that she tried to bring him up as a girl, but he never wanted to wear dresses.

"He wanted to wear pants, Nevada's, and Grasshopper shoes. Not even on Christmas Day did he put on a dress.

"When he was at school he used to go out of the house with his school dress on, but around the corner he would take it off and go to school in pants. Just before he got home, he would put the dress on again," she said.

Murphy was a bright pupil who never failed until he abruptly decided to leave school in Grade 10 - and started running a shebeen.

Allie said her troubled and short-tempered son wrote her a letter when he was 13. In it he told her there was something that was bothering him, and that there was something wrong "down there". It was only then that she realised the magnitude of his problem.

Murphy said: "I would not describe myself as having a sex change - I only had the female parts removed.

"My kids, a girl of four and a boy of one, come from my testes. I never developed breasts. I look like a man, I talk like a man. I am a man," he told the Sunday Times.

Murphy has been married twice and in his teens converted to Islam. He said he was married legally to his first wife and later divorced her in the High Court in Cape Town.

"How could I have done this if I did not have a legal identity document?" he asked.

But a prosecutor told the court that a fraud investigation had been launched because Murphy had two identity documents - one in which his name was indicated as Hilary Murphy and another which named him as Fadwaan Murphy.

Police are investigating how Murphy obtained the male identity document in 2001.

Murphy told the court that his gender was corrected with a series of operations at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, when he was in his teens.

He claimed he was issued with the male identity document after the corrective procedures at the hospital.

But police disputed that version in court, saying initial investigations had shown that Murphy did not have a sex change operation.

Murphy has been living in Kuils River after several incidents near his houses - he has three - in Lentegeur and Mitchells Plain.

He was charged with three separate cases: kidnapping in May 2008 when the state alleged he ordered drug-runners to capture a woman suspected of stealing drugs; intimidation of a neighbourhood watch member in May 2009; and pointing a firearm at a neighbourhood watch member who had found drugs in October 2009.

The cases are still before the court and, as part of his bail conditions, he was not allowed back into the Lentegeur area. Murphy said that bail conditions had been lifted but he chose not to return to the area.

"If Director Jeremy Vearey (Mitchell's Plain police station commissioner) and his fellow officers (who arrested Murphy during the raid) think that they have robbed me of my pride and dignity as a man, then they are fooling themselves.

"Vearey is harassing me because I am suing him for crimen injuria. He says that he is pursuing me for drug dealing - what has that got to do with my gender? My sexual status is not a criminal offence," said Murphy.

He was released on bail of R300 and is due back in court on March 2.

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[Junior]

West Africa drugs trafficking 'increasingly sophisticated'
BBC News, June 21, 2011

UN anti-drugs officials believe cocaine trafficking through West Africa to reach the lucrative markets in Europe is getting increasingly sophisticated.

The regional head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Alexandre Schmidt, said cocaine seizures had gone down.

But he had every reason to believe the trade was still increasing, and was now worth some $800m (£494m) a year.

There was also increasing involvement by West Africans themselves, with regional cartels emerging, he added.

Submarines

At a conference in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, Mr Schmidt said seizures of cocaine bound for Europe in West Africa had dropped from 47 to 35 tonnes between 2008 and 2009.

But he said that the illegal trade had not followed the same trend and might even be increasing.

"There has been a repositioning of the drug routes and the drug traffickers have much more sophisticated means and they are using more routes," he explained.

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest cartels have used submarines, as they have done off the South American and Caribbean coasts.

"We are not talking about military vessels here, but rather smaller ones which can be bought freely on the international market by anybody who has a couple of million dollars to spare," he said.

Mr Schmidt also said a few hundred people from Latin America still dominated the trade in West Africa, but that more and more locals were becoming involved.

Drug cartels had started to emerge within the region, and they were managing to stay one step ahead of transnational crime units, who were finding it harder to intercept the smuggled goods.

Mr Schmidt also said that although there was no evidence al-Qaeda's North African wing, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, was organised in drug trafficking, the group was certainly providing intermediary services in return for money.

[Junior]

Somali criminals must stay in UK, rules European Court
BBC News, 29 June, 2011

The UK must not deport two Somalis convicted of serious crimes because to do so would endanger their lives, the European Court of Human Rights says.

The Strasbourg judges said the UK's duty to protect the two from torture or inhumane treatment was "absolute".

The pair, aged 24 and 42, were served with deportation orders after being convicted of burglary, threats to kill, robbery and dealing in class A drugs.

The ruling sets a legal precedent for 214 similar UK cases involving Somalis.

Abdisamad Adow Sufi (24) and Abdiaziz Ibrahim Elmi (42) are being held at immigration detention centres in the UK.

In 2007 they appealed to the Strasbourg court, arguing that they would face death or serious injury if the UK deported them to the war-ravaged capital Mogadishu.

The seven judges accepted that there would be a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights if the pair were sent back to Mogadishu.

The court ruling said the judges "reiterated that the prohibition of torture and of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment was absolute, irrespective of the victims' conduct".

"Consequently, the applicants' behaviour, however undesirable or dangerous, could not be taken into account."

UK 'very disappointed'

The court told the UK to pay Mr Sufi 14,500 euros (£13,000) and Mr Elmi 7,500 euros (£6,716) for costs and expenses.

The UK still has three months in which it can appeal for the case to be re-examined.

The UK Border Agency said it was "very disappointed" at the ruling and was considering its legal position.

"This judgment does not stop us continuing to pursue the removal of foreign criminals who commit a serious crime," it said in a statement. "Nor does it find that all Somalis are in need of international protection."

Somalia has not had a functioning national government for 20 years.

The Islamist al-Shabab group controls much of southern Somalia and has been fighting interim government forces for control of Mogadishu in recent months.

[Junior]

Tunisia's Ben Ali drugs and gun running trial opens
BBC News, July 4, 2011

The drugs and gun running trial in absentia of Tunisia's ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has opened in the capital, Tunis.

Ben Ali is accused of harbouring drugs and weapons at his palace in Tunis during his rule - charges he deny.

Ben Ali was last month sentenced to 35 years in prison for embezzlement and misuse of state funds.

He fled to Saudi Arabia in January following weeks of protests - the first leader be ousted in the "Arab Spring".

Saudi Arabia has so far failed to extradite Ben Ali, despite a request by Tunisia's new interim government.

In court, his lawyer, Hosni Beji, described the drugs and gun-running charges as "irrational".

'Mediocre cannabis'

He said he had a list of witnesses to prove Ben Ali never owned or kept drugs.

"How can we imagine that a president holding power can have two kilogrammes of cannabis resin of mediocre quality [with intentions] of selling it," the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.

Protesters in court Mr Beji also said most of the weapons found at Ben Ali's palace after he fled were gifts from foreign leaders.

Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ben Abdel Aziz gave Ben Ali weapons, Mr Beji said, AFP reports.

Reuters news agency reports that members of the public in the courtroom heckled Ben Ali's lawyers, shouting: "Get out! You have betrayed Tunisia by defending Ben Ali!" and "You should have defended the young people killed by Ben Ali's weapons!"

'Parody of justice'

Ben Ali's lawyers walked out of the courtroom after the judge refused their request to delay the case so that they had more time to prepare their defence.

The case was due to have started last week, but was postponed because of a strike by judges.

Ben Ali and his wife Leila were also fined $66m (£41m) for embezzling and misappropriating public funds.

Ben Ali described the one-day trial as a "parody of justice".

He is also being investigated on suspicion of murder and abuse of power.

He ruled Tunisia for more than 20 years, before being ousted in a popular uprising that spread across North Africa and the Middle East.

His critics say his rule was marred by widespread human rights abuses and a lack of democracy.

His supporters say Tunisia was stable during his rule.

[Junior]

Cameroon petrol smugglers die in Dembo explosion
BBC News, July 5, 2011

Six petrol smugglers in Cameroon have died after a truck loaded with illegal fuel exploded in the northern town of Dembo, which borders Nigeria.

The fire happened at 2200 local time (2100 GMT) just after the vehicle had crossed over the border.

An eyewitness told the BBC he had seen the charred remains of six bodies, including the driver.

Nigeria's government heavily subsidises fuel, making it profitable for smugglers to take it into Cameroon.

It is not clear what caused the explosion, but such accidents are not uncommon.

Last month, Cameroon banned all night-time public transport on roads that are often not tarred to curb accidents caused by heavy drinking.

Flourishing

The BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah in the capital, Yaounde, says Nigerian fuel, popularly known as "zoa-zoa", is sold everywhere across the northern region of the country.

It is cheaper and more readily available in the regional capital Garoua than legal fuel refined in southern Cameroon, he says.

The illegal trade is flourishing and attracts many of the region's unemployed young people, our reporter says.

Haman Oumar, the government officer in charge of the north's commerce, says many children drop out of school to go into the business.

Our reporter says some young people travel across the border on their bicycles to collect canisters of petrol.

The District Officer for Benue, Zang III, says the incident in Dembo, 35km (about 20 miles) north-west of Garoua, clearly illustrates why the war against fuel smuggling must be won.

He launched a campaign to stop the trade last November.

But the smugglers say the government relies on the illicit business for income because custom duties are still paid on the imports, even though they are illegal.

[Junior]

Shell Executive: Nigerian Crime Syndicates Stealing 150,000 Barrels Of Oil Daily
Fox Business, February 21, 2012

ABUJA, Nigeria -(Dow Jones)- Organized crime syndicates in Nigeria are stealing about 150,000 barrels of oil daily from the maze of pipelines crisscrossing Africa's top oil producer, an executive with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said at a conference Tuesday.

Even after the end of a decades-long conflict with oil militants, and as Nigeria's oil production returns to pre-conflict levels, the country is struggling to squash an increasingly mafia-like network of oil smugglers, whose crude is tapped from pipelines and sold on international markets, said Sub-Saharan Africa Executive Vice President Ian Craig for Shell Upstream International, the exploration and production arm of the oil company.

Along with the increasingly sophisticated deep water technology, the theft is pushing major oil producers like Shell to seek oil blocks farther off-shore in Nigeria, where oil production facilities are safe from both theft and much of the regulation Nigeria applies to on-shore platforms.

On a single pipeline, Craig said his company observed 50 illegally-installed valves where thieves tapped oil, along with "industrial scale illegal refineries with major, major environmental impact."

With Nigeria's daily output currently estimated at 2.4 million barrels, the shadow bunkering industry would account for one out of every sixteen barrels of oil the country drills.

"Some countries aspire to that level of production," Craig said.

The company is considering another 200 wells and three platforms in Nigeria, particularly across Nigeria's "substantially understated" off-shore reserves, he said.

"Nigeria has the resources to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in oil investment," he said. "Nigeria's deepwater development has been impressive, but when compared to Angola, it is clear the level of development is far below Nigeria's full potential."

[Junior]

Cocaine traffickers generate about $900m from West, Central Africa – UNODC Boss
By Ekow Quandzie, SpyGhana, Monday, February 27, 2012

The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Mr. Yury Fedotov has underlined the importance of robust development and effective rule of law in reducing West Africa’s vulnerability to drug trafficking and organized crime.

Briefing the UN Security Council February 22, 2012, Mr. Fedotov said there is the need for concerted and coordinated action in the face of rapidly evolving transnational threats in the region.

According to the UN agency, West Africa, in recent years has emerged as a hub for cocaine trafficking between Latin America and Europe. It noted that approximately $900 million are generated from cocaine trafficked from West and Central Africa to Europe. And traffickers have taking advantage of porous borders and fragile State and security institutions in the region “easily outgun their opponents”.

Piracy, a relatively new phenomenon in the Gulf of Guinea has found a soft target in West Africa, according to the UN official. “Number of attacks off the coast of West Africa – 28 in 2011 compared with 11 in 2010.”

Highlighting the need for broad-based collaboration, Mr. Fedotov said “Our approach recognizes that while the problems in West Africa are local in nature, the solutions are often global.”

Strong regional frameworks could pave the way for mutually reinforcing interregional strategies, he added.

The UNODC in a statement indicated that a network of prosecutors could be established in West Africa, similar to the one already operating in Central America.

Mr. Fedotov called for greater political commitment and international assistance to West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

“Additional resources are needed if we are to sustain reforms in the long term and contribute to security sector reform,” he said.

[Junior]

Ivorian minister sacked over toxic waste fund scandal
BBC News, May 23, 2012

A minister in Ivory Coast has been sacked over his alleged role in the disappearance of millions of dollars meant for victims of pollution.

Adama Bictogo says he has not done anything wrong.

The case relates to a 2006 incident in which thousands became ill after toxic waste was dumped in Abidjan.

Multinational Trafigura, which shipped it, denied any wrongdoing but made a series of payments in relation to the case without admitting liability.

The company denies the waste could have caused the reported illnesses and said it was not directly involved in the dumping of the waste, saying it paid a local company to properly and legally dispose of the waste.

Police report leaked

Last year London-based rights group Amnesty International urged the new government of President Alassane Ouattara to investigate why victims of the pollution had not yet received their compensation.

The BBC's John James in Abidjan says an investigation was then opened and found that about $8m (£5m) from the compensation fund had indeed disappeared.

An Ivorian police report handed over in February to judicial authorities recommended the opening of a case for fraud and misuse of funds - and named three men:

Claude Gohourou, an activist who said he represented the victims through his group, the National Coordination of Toxic Waste Victims of Ivory Coast

Adama Bictogo, who was brought in by the former Ivorian government as facilitator to ensure the victims received their compensation

Kone Chieck Oumar, the head of a major local football club, who was also involved in the mediation efforts.

According to the police report, which was leaked to the Ivorian media this week, Mr Bictogo received $1.2m for these mediation efforts from the fund.

The minister, who held the African regional integration portfolio in Mr Ouattara's government and has been the lead negotiator in regional efforts to resolve the crises caused by recent coups in Guinea-Bissau and Mali, denies any wrongdoing and says he can explain his role.

In 2007, Trafigura paid an estimated $160m to the Ivorian government in compensation.

Two years later it also agreed to pay $45m to individual claimants in an out-of-court settlement before the case came to trial in London - after a group of British lawyers, Leigh Day and Co, organised a class action involving 30,000 Ivorians.

This money paid out by Trafigura was transferred to an Ivorian bank account.

Just before it was due to be handed over to the claimants by the British lawyers, the Ivorian courts ruled in favour of Mr Gohourou, who said his group for victims should be given control of the money.

But some 6,000 people who claimed to have been made ill by the dumping of chemical waste have yet to receive any payments.

Mr Bictogo is the first minister to be sacked by President Ouattara since he took over power from Laurent Gbagbo in April 2011 after a five-month-long crisis following disputed presidential elections.

In July 2010, a Dutch court found Trafigura guilty of illegally exporting toxic waste from Amsterdam and concealing the nature of the cargo.

The oil trading company was fined 1m euros (£880,000) after its ship, the Probo Koala, transited Amsterdam with its cargo - which then went on to be unloaded in Ivory Coast.

The exact risk to humans from the waste has been heavily disputed.

[Junior]

Tunisian jet attacks arms smugglers near Libyan border
BBC News, June 21, 2012

Tunisian military jets have attacked three vehicles loaded with weapons driving near the Libyan border.

The incident happened in a remote part of the Sahara desert where the borders of Libya, Tunisia and Algeria meet.

Reports suggest the cars were travelling from Libya to Algeria.

State media initially reported that all three vehicles were destroyed, but the Associated Press quoted an unnamed security official as saying one car had escaped into Algeria.

The two military planes were apparently on a routine flight and fired on the vehicles after being attacked.

Arms trafficking has exploded in the region since the fall of autocratic leaders in Libya and Tunisia last year.

Military hardware and small arms looted from the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's stockpiles have found their way on to the black market and are often trafficked through hard-to-police desert areas.

There have been several other clashes between Tunisian security forces and armed smugglers crossing the border from Libya and Algeria over the last year.

[Carmelo]

How Italian Mafia gained control of Malindi

By PAUL GITAU

Those who have always suspected that Malindi has become an extension of the Italian region of Sicily have even greater reason to worry.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) says it has evidence that the coastal town is firmly in the grip of the Italian Mafia, which controls and compromises the administration of justice.

It is generally easy for international criminals to hide in Africa because of its weak law enforcement systems and porous borders but Mr Mutua says the case of Malindi is one of the worst.

He says for a long time the Italian Mafia has had immense influence over the security apparatus and judicial system in Malindi, enabling “a climate of impunity” to hold sway.

“They have taken full control of Malindi. They are in control of police, courts and lawyers,” he told The County Weekly in an interview.

“Malindi is controlled by foreigners. They have established a club of impunity. The town is full of foreign thieves and it is very easy for anyone to come and stay here,” added Mr Mutua.

But coast police boss Aggrey Adoli dismisses the allegations by the LSK boss saying police have arrested many criminals who have been hiding in Malindi and other coastal towns.

The police boss, however, admits that because of the huge tourism industry, Malindi has been a magnate for European fraudsters, many of whom sneak in as tourists and stay on.

“Some come as tourists or to attend weddings and eventually find their way into the country,” he told The County Weekly.

Malindi-based government officials, lawyers and local residents have been unwilling to speak about the issue with our journalists as though they were sworn to a code of silence.

Well-placed sources say most of the criminals who have turned Malindi into their hideout come from Italy, Germany and eastern European countries and the majority engage in drug trafficking.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=...trol-of-Malindi

[Junior]

Drugs and arms fuel Africa unrest, says Liberia leader
BBC News, July 17, 2012

Growing drug trafficking and unchecked arms trade are fuelling insurgencies across Africa, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said.

In a BBC interview, Mrs Sirleaf said the rise of militant groups - such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabab in Somalia - was very disturbing.

She also mentioned recent attacks by Ansar Dine militants in Mali.

The president added that Liberia would lead a campaign to try to contain the menace.

Mrs Sirleaf said that she would now be urging countries which manufactured weapons to sign a treaty to stop arms proliferation.

She was speaking on the sidelines of an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The meeting earlier called on the UN Security Council to intervene in the ongoing conflict in Mali.

Tuareg rebels and the Islamists took control of northern Mali after a coup.

The army seized power in Mali in March, accusing the elected government of not doing enough to halt the Islamist groups.

But the rebels took advantage of the army's disarray to seize the whole of the north - an area the size of France.

[Junior]

Cybercriminals in developing nations targeted
BBC News, July 20, 2012

Cybercriminals in developing nations are being targeted in a new effort to combat the illegal activity.

The International Cyber Security Protection Alliance has launched a research project to identify how attacks are likely to evolve over the next eight years.

It said that faster links to the net in parts of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe were likely to create problems.

The ICSPA will advise governments and local authorities on how best to react.

The organisation is a coalition of law agencies, security companies and businesses, including Visa Europe and the defence firm EADS.

"It's not just about putting a black mark against a particular nation because many of these countries are the unwilling hosts to cybercriminal networks," John Lyons, the organisation's chief executive, told the BBC.

"We know the countries that provide 'organised cybercrime' with the ability and the hosting capability to attack the West in terms of its business and customers.

"So, what the ICSPA is looking to do is to work with those nations to provide support to help them improve the cyber-resilience of their national infrastructure, to aid their own economies, and to help their law enforcement groups tackle cybercriminals who work out of their country."

Advising Africa

Although the research project has only just got underway, the group has already started to co-ordinate action.

Members of the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) began work with the Ghanaian government in February to help it take technical steps to prevent cybercrime, and ensure offenders are prosecuted.

Mr Lyons said Nigeria, Botswana, Uganda and Rwanda were among nations likely to be targeted by the campaign.

The countries were starting to benefit from improved internet access, but would struggle to "suppress the criminality that will come with that connectivity," he said.

Other countries on his group's watch list included Bulgaria, Romania, India, the Philippines and parts of Latin America.

October report

The ICSPA wants companies based in developing nations to contribute to the costs of its efforts.

However, Mr Lyons acknowledged that the richer nations also needed to do more to combat internet crime.

"Something like 67% of malware which is used to attack Western businesses is hosted in the US on servers," he said. "The US needs to take steps to tackle that particular issue."

The ICSPA plans to issue a report covering its initial findings before the end of October.

[Junior]

Guinea-Bissau drug trade 'rises since coup'
BBC News, July 31, 2012

The UN Security Council has expressed concern that drug trafficking in Guinea-Bissau has increased since the coup in April.

It demanded that the country's rulers restore constitutional rule.

Guinea-Bissau has a long history of coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.

It has also become a staging post for gangs smuggling cocaine from Latin America to Europe, allegedly in collusion with top army officers.

"The members of the Security Council condemned the continuing interference of the military in politics and expressed their concern with reports of an increase in drug trafficking since the April 12 coup d'etat," the Security Council said after a meeting in New York.

It said it was considering calling an international summit to discuss how to achieve democratic rule in Guinea Bissau.

'Kingpin'

In May, the Security Council imposed travel bans on the coup leaders and their key supporters.

The military has agreed in talks brokered by the West African regional body, the Economic Community of West Africa States (Ecowas), to return the country to democratic rule, but has so far failed to do so.

In 2010, the US accused senior military men from Guinea-Bissau, including former navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, of drug running.

Under the Drug Kingpin Act, financial sanctions were imposed on the officers.

No elected leader in nearly 40 years of independence has finished their time in office in Guinea-Bissau.