By Todd Bensman, special to Homeland Security Today 9/11 Commemoration Series, September 15, 2021 On January 19, 2018, a citizen of Afghanistan and former interpreter for the U.S. military named Wasiq Ullah crossed the Texas border from Mexico. He had spent $16,000 to be smuggled through several countries – most likely to South America or Cuba and then overland north through Central America – … [Read more...] about Homeland Security Today Commemoration Series: State of Border Counterterrorism, Challenges Threaten Security Successes
Magazine Work
Massive Stanford Ponzi Scheme Decimates Mexico City’s Jews
In the late 2000s, Houston fraudster Robert Allen Stanford operated a massive Ponzi scheme that laid financial waste to Jewish organizations and individuals of every income level in Mexico and Latin America. A lawyer representing Latin American victims estimates that half of the one billion dollars lost in Mexico came from the capital’s 40,000-strong Jewish population. The smaller Jewish community … [Read more...] about Massive Stanford Ponzi Scheme Decimates Mexico City’s Jews
Divine Retreat
A mysterious ranch east of San Antonio, home to a Noah’s Ark of exotic animal species, serves as an opulent family haven for the iconoclastic leader of Light of the World Church, a controversial Mexico-based denomination followed by allegations of child sexual abuse and intimidation. Leader Samuel Juaquin Flores claims he and his family are deities with a direct link to Jesus. By TODD BENSMAN … [Read more...] about Divine Retreat
The Terrorist at City Hall
Mufid Abdulqader was a popular civil engineer. But he sang in a band that called for the destruction of Israel, and the government believes he has secret ties to terrorists. Last summer, his two worlds collided. By Todd Bensman, Special to D Magazine - January 2005 ROOM 305 of the Oak Cliff Municipal Building, an outpost of Dallas City Hall, houses some of the city’s most highly skilled … [Read more...] about The Terrorist at City Hall
Jihadists at the Door: Countering Terrorist Infiltration at America’s Land Borders
By Todd Bensman, Special to Homeland Security Today, December 2016 Todd Bensman In March 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators set their final dragnet at the Miami International Airport and waited to score a win in the war on terror. Soon enough, their longtime quarry, Iran Ul Haq, a Pakistani resident of Ecuador they’d been tracking across the globe for months, … [Read more...] about Jihadists at the Door: Countering Terrorist Infiltration at America’s Land Borders
Tom Coleman is Not the Biggest Racist in America
Long before "fake news," there was Tulia When 10 percent of the black residents of a small Panhandle town were busted for drugs, the white cop responsible became the national poster boy for racism. Tom Coleman was the Mark Fuhrman of Texas, the most hated lawman in America. Guess what? The media got the Tulia story all wrong—or never wanted to know the truth. BY TODD BENSMAN PUBLISHED IN D … [Read more...] about Tom Coleman is Not the Biggest Racist in America
Can a Mexican Cop Find Asylum in North Texas?
As drug violence escalates, Mexican cops are fleeing the country. A Dallas immigration judge may decide whether one cop on the run lives or dies. ByTodd BensmanPublished in D MagazineNovember2009 One day in April of last year, four-year police veteran Jose Alarcon and his partner, Capt. Felipe Galindo, detained two armed drug dealers after making a traffic stop in Juarez, Mexico. It … [Read more...] about Can a Mexican Cop Find Asylum in North Texas?
What Will Happen to the Children of the Holy Land Foundation Trial?
By Todd Bensman, special to D Magazine, September 2007 The federal trial of the richardson-based Holy Land Foundation is actually the last of a trio of trials. The five Elashi brothers, all of them immigrant Palestinians, have been indicted or convicted of various forms of supporting the terrorist group Hamas, or of trading with state terrorism sponsors like Syria. The current trial may last … [Read more...] about What Will Happen to the Children of the Holy Land Foundation Trial?
Zion’s Avenger
An Arab Bank versus a Jewish lawyer In the first lawsuit of its kind, Dallas attorney Mark Werbner is suing the biggest bank in the Middle East for $1 billion. It has sparked multiple federal terrorism investigations. Treasury regulators levied $24 million in sanctions against the bank. They all but forced the closure of the bank’s Manhattan operations for “failing to manage the risks … of … [Read more...] about Zion’s Avenger
Hamas’ Rock Star
By Todd Bensman -- Published February 13, 2006 DallasJUST DAYS after his party's upset landslide in the Palestinian elections, Hamas's supreme political leader, Khaled Meshal, was thrust into an unfamiliar spotlight, on the front page of the New York Times and in the looping reels of cable news shows. The whole world seems these days to hang on every defiant word Khaled utters from … [Read more...] about Hamas’ Rock Star