Navy offers cash for tips to seize Mideast drugs, weapons

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet is starting to offer rewards for information that could help sailors intercept weapons, drugs and other illicit shipments across the region amid tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and Tehran’s arming of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

While avoiding directly mentioning Iran, the 5th Fleet’s decision to offer cash and other goods for actionable intelligence in the Persian Gulf and other strategic waterways may increase pressure on the flow of weapons to the Houthis as a shaky cease-fire still holds in Yemen.

Already, the Houthis have threatened a new allied task force organized by the 5th Fleet in the Red Sea, though there’s been no attack by the Iranian-backed forces on the Navy in the time since.

Meanwhile, the 5th Fleet says it and its partners seized $500 million in drugs alone in 2021 — more than the four prior years combined. The 5th Fleet also intercepted 9,000 weapons in the same period, three times the number seized in 2020.

“Any destabilizing activity has our attention,” Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a 5th Fleet spokesman, told The Associated Press. “Definitely we have seen in the last year skyrocketing success in seizing both illegal narcotics and illicit weapons. This represents another step in our effort to enhance regional maritime security.”

The 5th Fleet’s new initiative launches on Tuesday through the Department of Defense Rewards Program, which saw troops offer cash and goods for tips on the battlefields in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere after al-Qaida launched the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Since ground fighting has largely halted across the region, the 5th Fleet decided to try to use the program as it patrols the waterways of the Middle East.

Hawkins said operators fluent in Arabic, English and Farsi would man a hotline, while the Navy also would take tips additionally online, in Dari and Pashto. Payouts can be as high as $100,000 or the equivalent in vehicles, boats or food for tips that also include information on planned attacks targeting Americans, Hawkins said.

It’s unclear if the 5th Fleet’s uptick in seizures represents a return to shipping after the coronavirus pandemic or an increase overall in the number of illicit shipments in the region. Traffickers typically use stateless dhows, traditional wooden sailing craft common in the Mideast, to transport drugs and weapons.

One destination for weapons appears to be Yemen. The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen’s exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine. A truce that began around the holy Muslim month of Ramadan appears for now to still be holding.

Despite a United Nations Security Council arms embargo on Yemen, Iran long has been transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weaponry to the Houthis. Though Iran denies arming the Houthis, independent experts, Western nations and U.N. experts have traced components back to Iran.

Asked about whether new seizures could increase tensions with Iran, Hawkins listed the weapons and drugs the Navy hoped to intercept under the program.

“That’s what we’re after,” the commander said. “That’s not in the interest of regional stability and security.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Navy and Iran continue to have tense encounters in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.

The rewards program marks the latest initiative under 5th Fleet Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who also launched a drone task force last year amid tensions with Iran.

Cooper’s other effort, the Red Sea task force , has drawn criticism from the Houthis in the past. The rebel group, which has repeatedly denied being armed by Iran, did not respond to a request for comment on the new Navy program.

However, Ali al-Qahom, a Houthi official, tweeted last week that the rebels are monitoring increased U.S. activity in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf waters.

“Because of this, defense and confrontation options are open,” he said. “They and their diabolical projects have no place” in the region.

Associated Press writer Ahmed Al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, contributed to this report.

阿联酋迪拜——由于伊朗核计划和德黑兰向也门胡塞武装提供武器，导致该地区局势紧张，美国海军驻中东的第五舰队开始悬赏征集信息，以帮助水兵拦截该地区的武器、毒品和其他非法运输。

虽然没有直接提及伊朗，但第五舰队决定向波斯湾和其他战略水道提供现金和其他物资以换取可操作的情报，这可能会加大向胡塞武装输送武器的压力，因为也门脆弱的停火协议仍然有效。

胡塞武装已经威胁到第五舰队在红海组建的新盟军特遣部队，但自那以后，伊朗支持的武装力量尚未对海军发动任何攻击。

与此同时，第五舰队表示，仅在2021年，该舰队及其合作伙伴就缴获了价值5亿美元的毒品——超过了此前四年缴获毒品总量的总和。第五舰队在同一时期还截获了9000件武器，是2020年缴获数量的三倍。

“任何破坏稳定的活动都引起了我们的关注，”第五舰队发言人蒂莫西·霍金斯指挥官告诉美联社。“过去一年，我们在查获非法毒品和武器方面取得了显著的成功。这标志着我们在加强区域海上安全方面又迈出了重要一步。”

美国第五舰队的一项新举措将于周二启动，该举措通过国防部奖励计划实施。该计划曾在2001年9月11日基地组织发动袭击后，鼓励美军士兵在阿富汗、伊拉克及其他地区的战场上提供现金和物资，以换取情报。由于该地区地面战斗已基本停止，第五舰队决定在其巡逻中东水域时尝试运用该计划。

霍金斯表示，将安排精通阿拉伯语、英语和波斯语的接线员值守热线，海军还将在线接受达里语和普什图语的线索。霍金斯说，对于包含针对美国人的袭击计划信息的线索，奖励最高可达10万美元，或等值的车辆、船只或食品。

目前尚不清楚第五舰队查获数量的增加是新冠疫情后航运活动的复苏，还是该地区非法运输总量的上升。贩毒分子通常使用无国籍的阿拉伯帆船（中东常见的传统木制帆船）运输毒品和武器。

也门似乎是武器的目的地之一。胡塞武装于2014年9月占领也门首都萨那，迫使国际社会承认的也门政府流亡海外。2015年3月，由沙特阿拉伯领导、配备美国武器和情报的联军加入也门流亡政府一方，参与战争。多年来旷日持久的冲突已将这个阿拉伯世界最贫穷的国家推向饥荒的边缘。斋月期间达成的停火协议目前似乎仍在维持。

尽管联合国安理会对也门实施了武器禁运，伊朗长期以来一直向胡塞武装输送步枪、火箭推进榴弹、导弹和其他武器。虽然伊朗否认向胡塞武装提供武器，但独立专家、西方国家和联合国专家都已追溯到这些武器的零部件来源地为伊朗。

当被问及新的查获行动是否会加剧与伊朗的紧张关系时，霍金斯列举了海军希望在该计划下截获的武器和毒品。

“这正是我们所追求的，”指挥官说。“但这不符合地区稳定与安全的利益。”

伊朗常驻联合国代表团未回应置评请求。美国海军和伊朗在霍尔木兹海峡持续发生紧张对峙，霍尔木兹海峡是波斯湾的狭窄入口，全球五分之一的石油贸易都要经过这里。

这项奖励计划是第五舰队中将布拉德·库珀上任以来推出的最新举措。去年，在与伊朗关系紧张之际，库珀还成立了一支无人机特遣部队。

库珀的另一项举措——红海特遣部队——过去曾遭到胡塞武装的批评。该反叛组织一再否认接受伊朗的武器装备，对于海军的这项新计划，他们没有回应置评请求。

然而，胡塞武装官员阿里·卡霍姆上周在推特上表示，叛军正在密切关注美国在红海和波斯湾水域日益频繁的活动。

“正因如此，防御和对抗的选项都摆在我们面前，”他说。“他们和他们那些邪恶的计划在这个地区没有立足之地。”

美联社驻也门萨那记者艾哈迈德·哈吉对本报道亦有贡献。