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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
May 17, 2013
Local Raids Lead To $1.4M, Corruption Charges
By STEVE GREEN
EDITOR
BERLIN – Two local business owners have been indicted for enterprise corruption and money laundering, among other charges, for their roles in smuggling millions of dollars’ worth of illegal untaxed cigarettes. Approximately $1.4 million in large black bags and 20,000 cartons of cigarettes were recovered Wednesday from the West Ocean City home and other properties belonging to Basel Ramadan 42, who is being called the “ringleader” and “boss of the enterprise” in a vast cigarette smuggling conspiracy. His younger brother, Samir Ramadan, 40, was referred to as the “enterprise treasurer” in a press release from the New York Attorney General’s Office. At a press conference yesterday, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced the indictments of 16 members of a criminal ring that brought approximately one million cartons of untaxed cigarettes from Virginia to the New York City area. Law enforcement suspects the proceeds of this illegal operation could be ending up in the hands of
A vehicle is pictured being towed from a home on Whisper Trace Drive in the Oyster Harbor community in West Ocean City on Wednesday. Submitted Photo
terrorist groups, but at this point it’s not a certainty. “The association of some of the suspects in this case to the Ari Halbestram’s killer, the Blind Sheik and a top Hamas official concerns us,” said Kelly. “While it hasn’t been established yet where the illicit proceeds ended up, we’re concerned because similar schemes have been used in the past to help fund terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
On Wednesday morning, Homeland Security officials and New York authorities stormed a condominium above the Subway on Sunset Drive and Coastal Highway and were seen confiscating items and seemed to be working a crime scene. In West Ocean City, in the Oyster Harbor community, a similar scene played out with the two brothers arrested. Personal property was seized and vehicles were stripped during searches.
Witnesses in the Oyster Harbor community reported to The Dispatch 15 police vehicles from Maryland, New York and New Jersey surrounded the home at 12648 Whisper Trace and two suspects were reportedly handcuffed and seen face down on the lawn. Additionally, at one point, a suburban rolled into the community and six armed agents ran into the house. Four flatbed trucks were also spotted on site and towed all of the vehicles at the home. The Ramadan family is the owner of several local businesses, including area convenience stores, the Village Market shopping center in Ocean City and the Subway on Sunset Drive where the raid took place (but not other Subways in Ocean City, Berlin and Ocean Pines). Both Basel and Samir Ramadan were being held yesterday in Worcester County on the charge of fugitive from justice-New York. Questions to the federal Homeland Security office have not been answered as of deadline. At yesterday’s press conference, authorities outlined the long-term investigation and specifically discussed the Ramadan brothers. “This joint investigation by the Attorney General's Organized SEE NEXT PAGE
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