Todd Bensman

From Journalism to Counterterrorism Intelligence - and Back.

Permanent Collections

The Terrorist at City Hall

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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

Bust: Smuggler moved Pakistanis to border

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ICE first learned in March 2014 that Sharafat Khan was running a human smuggling network moving illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan through Latin America to the American border states of Texas and California. Khan ran a global human smuggling network that transported between 25 and 99 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan from Brazil to Texas … [Read more...] about Bust: Smuggler moved Pakistanis to border

Gun running to Mexico

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A four-part series tracing the smuggling of guns from American retailers to Mexico's warring drug cartels The story of how several guns bought legally from a Laredo gun dealer ended up at the killing grounds deep in Mexico where narcotics traffickers murdered four Aguascalientes police officers (photo at left) illuminates how and why armaments from American gun store retailers were stocking … [Read more...] about Gun running to Mexico

War of Transnistria; a mean little conflict in former Soviet Moldova (combat footage)

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Cossack soldiers in 19th century uniforms, a new "country" called "Transnistria, " the Russian 14th Army firing artillery its commander swore it didn't really fire, and Romania-backed government troops. The bizarre history of this former Soviet republic, and the troubled turn at which I briefly found it in June 1992, has contemporary roots in its World War II past, when Nazi Germany conquered the … [Read more...] about War of Transnistria; a mean little conflict in former Soviet Moldova (combat footage)

VIDEO: Center for Immigration Studies panel discussion at The National Press Club

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Washington, D.C. - The vetting – or lack thereof – of asylum applicants has received little attention, a serious national security oversight. The Center for Immigration Studies hosted a panel discussion on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 focusing on the security threat posed by the ineffective vetting of those applying for asylum, specifically addressing the weaknesses in the "credible fear" … [Read more...] about VIDEO: Center for Immigration Studies panel discussion at The National Press Club

Jihadists at the Door: Countering Terrorist Infiltration at America’s Land Borders

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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

Jihadists at the Door: Countering terrorist infiltration of America’s land borders

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A February 2016 article in Homeland Security Today describes the most successful law enforcement tactics used in international investigations of human smugglers who transport immigrants from terror countries of interest 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. … [Read more...] about Jihadists at the Door: Countering terrorist infiltration of America’s land borders

How smugglers use the Middle East-based consulates of Latin American nations

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This series of stories shows how smugglers corrupt the foreign embassies and consulates of Latin America in the Middle East to gain the documents needed to reach the southern border. Mexico and Latin American embassies implicated in such travel include those in Beirut, Singapore, Mumbai, Belize, Turkey, Kenya, Cuba, and Jordan. Smuggling ring ferrying African from terror watch countries had … [Read more...] about How smugglers use the Middle East-based consulates of Latin American nations

Tom Coleman is Not the Biggest Racist in America

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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. Link to D Magazine story … [Read more...] about Tom Coleman is Not the Biggest Racist in America