by Frank Perry
Anatoly Machin.
Machin grew up in Kazakhstan. Following his education at Moscow University, he joined the military and after training, began working as a Quartermaster for the Soviet Army. After a few years, he expanded his duties and began supplying commando troops. He could speak several languages fluently, and became active with the Russian army in Angola. However in 1991, he was disenfranchised as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He and his fellow officers were out of a job. With no hope for income, Machin, with his training, had experience with arms sources and important international contacts that he parlayed into a vast moneymaking machine. With the collapse of the army, Machin started the Lucinda Export Cargo Company, which, in 1993, helped supply the warring forces in Somalia. Once his company had been set up, he made contacts with an Afghani group called the Northern Alliance who needed large amounts of weapons. He ultimately supplied several Afghani groups with tons of ammunition and weapons. With the money he made from these deals, allegedly $100 million dollars, he was able to further expand his empire.
His first expansion was a company in Lithuania named Mission Network Group. The company had a new customer, the Taliban. Business was extremely prosperous. He moved to Moscow for a few years, which were generally difficult, since he was under investigation for illegal arms trading. In the late 1990’s, he moved to the United Arab Emirates, where he formed a new company, which became his main base of operations. The UAE was a perfect place for a man like him. It was a major financial center and a crossroad for East and West trade; and with its bank secrecy laws and free trade zones, it is a perfect haven for an arms dealer. From the UAE, his focus became Africa. In 2000, Machin founded Angola Cargo Air; this would be the beginning of his nearly exclusive grip on weapons to Africa. He did not care who he supplied with weapons as long as they paid with U.S. dollars. Annually, Machin airlifted tons of assault rifles, mines and missiles, with millions of ammunition rounds into Africa. Without Machin, it was cynically said that there would be peace in Africa. International law enforcement was determined to stop his arms dealing, but was never successful.
Machin had made the political connections and enough money that he was almost untouchable. His businesses were a maze of companies with no assets traceable directly to him. Nothing was registered in his name. Highly placed UAE royalty and officials who often participated in joint business ownership with him protected Machin. The Middle Eastern legal system could be easily manipulated, but this changed after September 11, 2001 fearing retribution from the US.
Al Qaeda was tied closely to the extremist fanatics of the Afghani Taliban. As such, Machin became a top security concern. The U.S. and Interpol were looking everywhere for him, but could not find him. When the Emirates started to cooperate with the western world, he moved back to his homeland, where corrupt officials knew how to hide a man like Machin. From the relative safety of mother Russia, he continued to practice his trade. With the dissolution of the military, he was able to have access to anything in the arsenal, for the right price. With money, the extremists could have access to the most dangerous weapons of all.
Russian SA-18 missile warheads were to be disassembled according to treaty agreement with the United States and others. The actual destruction is difficult to verify. With enough money to the right officials, it is possible to purchase an entire missile warhead. Al Qaeda was able to collect the financing, and had a strong desire to test this proposition.
Hasan Razzaq was selected to negotiate with Machin for purchase and transport of an SA-18 warhead. He traveled through Iraq and into Iran by car, then by airplane from Teheran to Moscow. From Moscow, he followed a circuitous path, with Machin ultimately meeting him on a train en route to St. Petersburg.
After several secretive meetings, they agreed to terms that led to a sizable down payment to an account untraceable to Machin, with final payment to follow delivery inside the US. Delivery was to be at a major city to be specified after passing initial entry in New York. The Russian agreed to provide logistics support in NY through mafia connections. They discussed mechanisms to thwart US Customs. Machin agreed to help circumnavigate the import processes. The Russian also offered to supply weapon technical and logistical support in the US once final payment had transferred.
Razzaq in America
Razzaq was awake after his overnight flight. He’d departed Zurich at 7:00AM on Lufthansa to Frankfurt, and then changed to LH400, landing at JFK in New York City at 12:45AM. The total flight time was 12 hours, 45 minutes. He was able to rest on the plane, but the details of his plan kept his mind working, and the exhilarating prospect of this mission overtook any effects of fatigue.
He passed through Immigration and Customs Enforcement gates with no difficulty as Avner Ackerman using an Israeli passport. Middle Eastern men looked alike to western inspectors. Several hours before Razzaq’s morning departure in Switzerland, Mr. Ackerman and his wife had taken a long tumble over a cliff while on vacation.
He took Amtrak from Penn Station in New York City to Chicago. Upon arrival, another Middle Eastern man driving a “Patriot” company taxi met him. They embraced per custom, and Razzaq sat in the back seat for the ride to Villa Park. Along the way, they discussed elements of the plan that Razzaq had revealed in their cell phone discussion. Most of the plan was in his head, unrevealed and undocumented. The driver looked back briefly and said, “Then it begins tomorrow... Inshallah (God willing).”
Razzaq then made another phone call, this time speaking in Russian. His driver, Malik Iqbal Asif Masood, did not comprehend the language. Nevertheless, Razzaq was trained to assume calls were monitored and kept his dialogue cryptic. After two minutes, the phone call ended. He detested the Russians, but they were a means to an end, and the best access any Muslim had to organized criminals in the United States.
The “safe house” was located on West Elm Street in Villa Park, a western suburb of Chicago. It was an obscure side street in a quiet neighborhood. Two Patriot taxis were parked in the driveway. Along the way, he’d seen several such cabs in their familiar white paint with blue and red striping. This taxi company had factored into his planning by his Jihad brothers in Chicago, when developing the plan. The best way to remain hidden in the open was in the ubiquitous taxis.
The Patriot taxi line was a franchise business with each driver owning his own cars. Ninety percent of the cars were ex-police vehicles, Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Marquis. All were painted identically except for the vehicle number shown in the passenger side of the windshield. These taxis are seen at all hours of the day or night throughout the city. Since most of the taxi drivers in Chicago are Middle Eastern or Eastern European men, they would draw no special attention.
Inside the house, there were twelve other men, all Muslim, waiting to greet Razzaq. He hoped that they did not share full names. They all kissed him and invited him to eat. The food on the airplane and train had not been properly prepared. Islamic law prohibits a Muslim from consuming alcohol, eating or drinking blood and its by-products, and eating the meat of a carnivore or omnivore animals, such as pork, monkey, dog, or cat. They had tea, and then enjoyed many Arabic dishes.
After eating, some of the men left and others adjourned to the bedrooms. Razzaq had a private bedroom, but they all shared the only bath in the house. This would be their base of operations for the Jihad mission. Glory be to Allah.
Chicago
Razzaq slept from 7:00PM until 5:00AM the next morning awaking with a headache. Delayed travel effects. After morning prayers, tea and some country bread, Razzaq had Masood drive him to the central part of the city to verify the target positions. At rush hour downtown, the driving was slow, which fit his plan perfectly. He was content to stop and go along the streets in the taxi with dense traffic. It allowed him to photograph and evaluate specific targets. He already had thousands of digital reconnaissance pictures stored on a laptop. The layout of the city was ideal for the explosi
on grid he’d conceived.
The next day, Razzaq and Masood went to the warhead disassembly building in Kenosha. He complemented Masood on his excellent choice. They could accomplish the task without drawing attention to themselves. Both men had been good friends for many years and Masood would not be martyred, given Razzaq’s friendship, and unique US citizenship and native upbringing.
Over the next few days, he held briefings and managed additional logistics tasks, while awaiting their prized shipment. He visited the building in Woodstock once. The weapons in this case would be automobiles disguised as Patriot taxis. Each taxi would be fitted with a nuclear bomb. They had a Russian engineer who developed the remote detonation devices that would be used after they were parked around the city. The bombs could not be controlled in the cars, so the drivers could not ruin the mission.
At Woodstock, they painted the cars white. After painting, vinyl markings of the Patriot taxi line were applied. Masood had been buying the cars for almost a year. The building had no open doors and the windows were painted. The ceiling was only about twelve feet high so air