From Iran and Oman to Bosaso and Al-Mahra.. A British investigation reveals networks and routes of arms smuggling to the Houthis
English - Tuesday 15 February 2022 الساعة 08:34 am
Aden, NewsYemen, special:
A British security investigation with a detained arms smuggler revealed networks and routes for Iranian arms smuggling to the Houthi militia in Yemen, across the coast of the Sultanate of Oman.
A British investigator interrogated a detained sailor named "Mohammed" who worked in a smuggling network on a boat seized by the US Navy, while he was transporting a shipment of smuggled weapons on the way to the Houthis.
And "Mohammed" was arrested after returning from the Yemeni city of Hodeidah to his hometown (Bozar) to visit his sick mother, after the US Navy confiscated the shipment of Iranian weapons, while most of the crew stayed in Hodeidah.
An ex-hunter who became a navigation expert
"Mohammed" was working as a fisherman at sea, before he was recruited into a complex arms smuggling network, which includes smugglers from Iran, Yemen, the Sultanate of Oman, and others of African nationalities.
After changing his profession, "Mohammed" became an expert in maritime navigation and was involved in other maritime activities such as smuggling, according to the text of the security investigation seen by NewsYemen.
The investigator extracted from "Mohammed" important information about the arms smuggling networks of the Houthis, after deluding him that he was working with the United Nations and doing some research on security and weapons in Yemen and Somalia.
The smuggler says that after the end of the hunting season, he wanted to return with a friend of his named Muhammad Omar (both are fishermen) from the Shukr area to their hometown, but then he received a call from a person from his hometown named Omar Al-Kumairi, who is involved in smuggling operations.
He added that the caller asked them where are you..? And they said we're in (thanks) and we'll go home. The first told them not to return. "There are some things we would like to do."
The detained smuggler says: "I talked to my father that I would work a little longer until the middle of Ramadan (last Ramadan). Then he went with his friend to Shibam Hotel, where other people were waiting for them: Abdul Karim Salil (the captain), Mahrous Mahnach (assistant) and also Saeed. Yassin Zakari and his brother Abdullah Yassin Zakari, Talal Safi and Abdo Air.
Saeed Yassin, Abdullah Yassin, Talal Safi, and Abdo Air were in charge of preparing the boat and preparing the boxes, and then the entire crew set out to take the shipment of weapons from another boat to be smuggled by sea.
Omani boat
During his interrogation by the British investigator, "Mohammed" revealed the name of the other boat, which delivered the arms shipment (which the US Navy had seized earlier in the Arabian Sea) to their boat, and said it was an Omani boat named (Shamsi).
He said that he did not know the owner of the other boat or the nature of his work until the other members on the boat explained to him that they were going to the Omani coasts to take the shipment of weapons.
He added that they left on the thirteenth of last Ramadan, and their journey took four days, and then they waited for another four days for the shipment to reach them.
Iranian smugglers to the coast of Oman
After four days of waiting, another boat came after sunset, so the captain of the boat ordered us to step aside. Then the other members who brought the shipment handled the transfer of weapons from the supplier's boat to the boat we were in.
He stated that the process of transferring the shipment of weapons from the two boats lasted from 7 pm until 1 am (6 hours), and then after they finished, the captain of their boat (Abdul Karim) asked: Who are those who carried out the transfer? "The Iranians," said the captain.
The captain told them they were Iranian, and that was it. No other information has been provided.
According to the confessions of the detained smuggler, after receiving the shipment of Iranian weapons in the Omani coast, they moved towards Bosaso (Somalia).
How did the US Navy seize the shipment?
While they were on their way to Somalia, a helicopter appeared flying over them, but they continued sailing, and then an American ship arrived and about 10 to 12 officers got out of it and boarded the boat and searched it, and when they found the weapons they took the smugglers to the deck of the ship and made them lie on their stomachs, and after The American officers interrogated them separately.
"Mohammed" says that the captain of the boat had told him to answer any questions that they came from (Shukr) and were going to Socotra, in return for giving him 100,000 Yemeni riyals. Although their actual destination was Bosaso, not Socotra.
The plan to deliver weapons to the Houthis in Yemen (if the boat had not been confiscated by the Americans) was to head to Bosaso and there it would be transferred to another boat, and then (Mahros and Abdul Karim) would take it to Al-Ghaydah in Al-Mahra Governorate, Yemen. And that will be the point of delivery.
According to "Mohammed", the team that was scheduled to receive the shipment from them were: Al-Khamiri, Muhammad Yassin, Abdullah Yassin, and Talal Safi, to take over the shipment to a place called (Oradea), as stated in the text of the Arabic version of the investigation.
What happened after that?
After the US Navy completed the inspection and made all transfers of weapons from the boat to the ship and the ship's departure, the smugglers continued their journey to Bosaso in Somalia.
When they arrived in Somalia, they called "Ali al-Halali" (a weapons smuggler) and asked him: What is the plan? .. The latter said to them: "Go towards Yemen's Hodeidah," which is what happened.
The captain of the boat changed the course of their destination to Hodeidah, and they arrived after a four-day journey, and there they were met by Mujahid al-Halhali, brother of Ali al-Halhali, who is a Houthi leader and a dangerous weapons smuggler.
In the meantime, al-Halhali transferred them to a hotel for one day, and then took them to the house of a Houthi leader named Muhammad Salem, and they stayed in his house for two nights. The next day, they transferred them to Sana'a, and they stayed in al-Halhali's house.
By asking the smuggler who is currently detained whether he knew the location of al-Halali's house in Sana'a, he said that it is located in a place called (Habra neighborhood) between Sawan and Naqm, and next to a restaurant called Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar.
Regarding the role of (Al-Halhali) in the arms smuggling process, and his relationship with the Houthis, Muhammad says that he is a Houthi leader and has been working in arms trade and smuggling for a long time and owns a high-rise building in Sanaa.
Then what?
The Houthi leader transferred the smugglers back to Hodeidah, where they were subjected to educational courses on farms in the Salif area, and then promised to give them $1,500 in return.
After that, "Mohammed" returned to his hometown in (Bozar) to visit his sick mother, and there the authorities arrested him, while most of the crew stayed in Hodeidah.
