Over US$339 million Taken in Pirate's Ransom Says World Bank Research

Between US$339 million and US$413 million was taken in ransom from the hijacking of ships off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa between 2005 and 2012, and much of that ransom money was used to fuel a wide range of criminal activities on a global scale, according to a new report issued today by the World Bank, the UNOCC, and INTERPOL. The report, using data from interviews with former pirates, government officials, bankers, and others involved in countering piracy, examines the role of pirates into the khat trade, human trafficking and illegal activities