Through a massive international joint operation, authorities across the United States and Western Europe used i2’s Analyst’s Notebook and iBase to compile evidence to arrest the Rikabadi Organization for drug trafficking and terrorist activities.
Housein Karimi Rikabadi, leader of the international heroin trafficking organization known as the Rikabadi Organization, was responsible for the worldwide distribution of thousands of kilograms of Southwest Asian heroin.
The Rikabadi Organization purchased heroin from suppliers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and arranged for the heroin to be transported through various countries including Iran and Turkey, and then imported into the United States, Canada, and Western European countries to be sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Outside of Karimi’s connections to the Rikabadi drug cartel, he was also a known member of the Kurdistan Komünist Party (KPP), renowned for its terrorist links. The KPP used drug money to purchase guns and incite violence against the Turkish authorities. Karimi’s link to the KPP alerted authorities to both his terrorist activities and his drug connections, and provided the starting point for an international investigation.
Karimi’s international drug trafficking ring led to a massive cross-border investigation that included the United States, the Romanian Border Police, and officials from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Greece. The Risk Analysis Service of the Romanian Border Police received a request to investigate Karimi from both local and international authorities that required them to be able to share information not only across jurisdictions, but across international borders as well.
Anca Cios, the Head of the Risk Analysis Service, used i2’s iBase and Analyst’s Notebook to analyze the enormous quantity of data produced by the investigation. She used iBase to house the investigative and intelligence reports as well as telephone records and wire tappings. By importing all of the data into one repository, it gave the Romanian Border Police instant access to all their data and made it easy to pull the information into i2 Analyst’s Notebook to visualize the analysis.
The vast amount of data we had, between wire
tappings, phone records, and investigative reports, would have been impossible to sort through and analyze without i2’s iBase and Analyst Notebook.Anca Cios, Head of Risk Analysis Service,
Romanian Border Police
Being able to draw connections across the large volume of data allowed the international investigators to determine the intricacies of how the Rikabadi Organization worked. The analysis done in iBase and i2 Analyst’s Notebook proved that the organization trafficked drugs through Romanian-based United States tobacco companies by putting the drugs in containers used for various types of merchandise, including cigarettes. They also used drivers who worked for tourist companies to bring the drugs out of Turkey, hidden in the vehicles. The money was then laundered through established companies in Romania which imported goods from Dubai, and exported them through the Netherlands and other European countries.
i2 software also helped connect Karimi to Bashir Noorzai. His negotiations to receive the proceeds of Rikabadi’s heroin sales to finance Mullah Mohammad Omar’s spring offensive in Afghanistan against U.S. forces provided the necessary link to tie him to terrorist activities.
The international investigation used i2 Analyst’s Notebook charts shared among the different agencies and countries to aid in the multiple ongoing cases being built. Taking down the Rikabadi Organization required the U.S. to attain intelligence in Romania, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Canada.
Regardless of the borders, i2 software allowed investigators to connect the dots, find the members of the Rikabadi Organization, and the United States was able to put out an arrest warrant for Karimi Rikabadi. Law enforcement authorities arrested Karimi while he was attempting to cross from Austria to the Republic of Azerbaijan. Romanian authorities seized all his properties in Romania on behalf of U.S. authorities.
Upon the arrest of Karimi he was extradited to the United States while authorities within Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium and France arrested other top operatives within the Rikabadi Organization.
This massive cross-border operation helped eliminate a huge drug trafficking organization, and effectively cut off another arm of terrorist funding.
Find out more about i2 Analyst's Notebook and iBase, or contact us to see how we can help you with your law enforcement investigations.
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