Page 22 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch October 18, 2013 Authorities Charge Ramadan In Murder-For-Hire Plot By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR OCEAN CITY – One of two Ocean City residents indicted by a New York grand jury in May for allegedly leading a vast multi-million dollar cigarette smuggling and money laundering operation was indicted again on Thursday in New York for a foiled murder-for-hire plot. In mid-May, federal officials concluded an investigation into a multimillion dollar cigarette smuggling operation with raids on two locations in and around the resort area including the West Ocean City homes of local residents and business owners Basel Ramadan, 42, who has been called the “ringleader” of the operation, and Samer Ramadan, 40, who is being called the operation’s “enterprise treasurer.” Also indicted were 14 other alleged co-conspirators, from transporters to distributors to resellers, who were rounded up at locations all over the mid-Atlantic region on the same day in May. On Thursday, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced the indictment of Basel Ramadan and Yousseff Odeh, one of his alleged distributors and a trusted lieutenant, on new charges they conspired from behind bars to murder witnesses they believed were cooperating with law enforcement in the massive cigarette smuggling case against them. The new indictment, which was unsealed early Thursday morning in Brooklyn Supreme Court on a day Basel Ramadan was already scheduled to appear for a hearing, charges Ramadan and Odeh with conspiracy in the second-degree and criminal solicitation in the seconddegree. Each now faces up to 25 years in prison on the new charges for conspiring to kill witnesses, in addition to the time they face for their roles in the cigarette smuggling operation. With the cooperation of confidential sources, law enforcement personnel learned early in August Basel Ramadan and Odeh wanted to kill two individuals living in New York who they believed were cooperating with officials. Additional evidence of the murder plots, hatched from inside Rikers Island jail, was gathered by law enforcement officials who monitor calls made by inmates. In this case, the calls were placed by Basel Ramadan. One of the calls was to an undercover police officer whom Ramadan believed was a contract killer. “These defendants sought to kill individuals they believed to be witnesses to their crimes,” said Schneiderman on Thursday. “This behavior Thurs. & Fri. Open @ 4pm Sat. & Sun. Open @ noon Closed Mon.-Wed. Sports Bar With TVs Kids Menu • Keno 3 FOR $15 3 FOR $20 for Restaurant Week thru Oct. 27th RAVENS Rap SHOW is LIVE on Wednesdays is intolerable and we are going to prosecute them to the full extent of the law.” Kelly said on Thursday the latest indictments of Ramadan and Odeh in the alleged murder-for-hire plot for the witnesses shows the extent the conspiracy could extend beyond the cigarette smuggling operation. “This indictment shows the scope of intent of these two individuals was not limited to generating profits through illegal cigarettes,” he said. “It now includes a murder plot. Fortunately, it was an NYPD detective and not an accomplice of these inmates on the other end of the phone. I commend the NYPD Intelligence Division and their partners in the Attorney General’s Office for their work.” In May, federal officials concluded an investigation into the vast cigarette smuggling operation with raids on the West Ocean City homes of Basel and Samer Ramadan. Federal officials also raided the Ramadan’s offices over the Subway restaurant they owned at Sunset Drive near 26th Street in Ocean City on the same day. At the Ramadan’s West Ocean City homes in the Oyster Harbor community, $1.4 million in large black bags were recovered, along with 20,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes. Also seized were numerous vehicles and other property belonging to the Ramadans. The Ramadans SEE NEXT PAGE ✛✡✠✒✡✗✠✝✣✗❉ Show is taped ❚✍✚✡ ❃❆❄✳✰❈ But Our Ravens Room Is Open 5-9pm! 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