DAVID B. CARUSO
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK – Long before there was MoneyGram and Western Union, people in South Asian countries often used an informal network of brokers, called a “hawala,” to transfer money over long distances when it was too inconvenient or dangerous to send cash by courier.
Today, the centuries-old system still exists and is used to move billions of dollars annually in and out of countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia – often to the chagrin of U.S. law enforcement.
A federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press that terror suspect Faisal Shahzad is believed to have tapped into such a network to help fund a plot to detonate a car bomb in Times Square on May 1. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.