The six, who were charged for sending money home to Yemen, were arrested December 18 in highly publicized raids on several local businesses and residences in a working-class district here where many Yemeni immigrants live and work. Sensational media reports played up insinuations by government officials of connections between the money and "terrorism."

A federal agent here claimed that a "confidential informant" secretly videotaped the men accepting funds for transfer to Yemen. The raids were part of a national sting operation called "Green Quest." Some 60 city and federal cops carried out the raids, confiscating records, computers, and $200,000 from five bank accounts.

But pressed by the media, Robert Cares, an assistant U.S. Attorney who heads the federal Anti-Terrorism Task Force in Detroit, was forced to admit that the men were not part of a "terrorist" plot. "There are no links of any type to terrorist activity," said.

In October, federal agents carried out similar "money laundering" raids in Coldwater, Michigan, where there is also a large Yemeni immigrant community. But no charges were ever filed against anyone following those raids.

Provisions of the USA Patriot Act, passed in October 2001 after Washington sharply accelerated its war drive in the Mideast, require that money transfer agencies register with the U.S. Treasury Department. These laws have been one way the U.S. government has rounded up individuals under the pretext of "fighting terrorism."

Like immigrants from many other countries, Yemenis here regularly send remittances to their families back home who depend on the income. And there are numerous businesses and agencies here where such transactions can be arranged.

U.S. Customs officials seized on the traditional Middle Eastern practice of hawala, a means of money exchange based on trust, to make unsubstantiated accusations of "financing terrorism." Because no banking documentation is created and no money crosses borders, the government claims it is justified in carrying out its "money laundering" raids.

One Yemeni-born worker interviewed by the Militant said he may have lost $5,000, part of the money assets seized by the government. The funds were savings accumulated over time and intended for his wife in Yemen to travel here with the couple’s child.

Gina Balaya, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said that while charges against the six had been dismissed, the government could refile complaints or ask a grand jury to indict them. "The case is ongoing," she told the press.

"A complaint only has a shelf life of 20 days," Balaya asserted. "This has nothing to do with the strength of the case." An assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs Service investigation, James Dinkins, said "volumes of evidence were obtained at the original arrests. New criminal charges will be forthcoming in the near future."

Nabih Ayad, a well known attorney in the Arab-American community here, told the press the dismissal of the charges showed they were unfounded. "These are poor people sending money to their families," he said.  
 
 
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