Part 4: Carl Cameron Investigates
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Carl Cameron
Monday, December 17, 2001
Part 4 of 4
TONY SNOW, HOST: This week, senior correspondent
Carl Cameron has reported on a longstanding government
espionage investigation. Federal officials this year have
arrested or detained nearly 200 Israeli citizens suspected
of belonging to an "organized intelligence-gathering operation."
The Bush administration has deported most of those arrested
after Sept. 11, although some are in custody under the new
anti-terrorism law.
Cameron also investigates the possibility that an Israeli firm
generated billing data that could be used for intelligence purpose,
and describes concerns that the federal government's own
wiretapping system may be vulnerable. Tonight, in part four
of the series, we'll learn about the probable roots of the probe:
a drug case that went bad four years ago in L.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARL CAMERON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):
Los Angeles, 1997, a major local, state and federal drug
investigating sours. The suspects: Israeli organized
crime with operations in New York, Miami, Las Vegas,
Canada, Israel and Egypt. The allegations: cocaine and
ecstasy trafficking, and sophisticated white-collar credit
card and computer fraud.
The problem: according to classified law enforcement documents
obtained by Fox News, the bad guys had the cops’ beepers,
cell phones, even home phones under surveillance. Some who
did get caught admitted to having hundreds of numbers and
using them to avoid arrest.
"This compromised law enforcement communications
between LAPD detectives and other assigned law
enforcement officers working various aspects of the case.
The organization discovered communications between
organized crime intelligence division detectives, the FBI
and the Secret Service."
Shock spread from the DEA to the FBI in Washington, and
then the CIA. An investigation of the problem, according to
law enforcement documents, concluded, "The organization
has apparent extensive access to database systems to identify
pertinent personal and biographical information."
When investigators tried to find out where the information
might have come from, they looked at Amdocs, a publicly
traded firm based in Israel. Amdocs generates billing data
for virtually every call in America, and they do credit checks.
The company denies any leaks, but investigators still fear that
the firm's data is getting into the wrong hands.
When investigators checked their own wiretapping system for
leaks, they grew concerned about potential vulnerabilities in
the computers that intercept, record and store the wiretapped
calls. A main contractor is Comverse Infosys, which works
closely with the Israeli government, and under a special
grant program, is reimbursed for up to 50 percent of its
research and development costs by Israel's Ministry of
Industry and Trade.
Asked this week about another sprawling investigation and
the detention of 60 Israeli since Sept. 11, the Bush
administration treated the questions like hot potatoes.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:
I would just refer you to the Department of Justice with
that. I'm not familiar with the report.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm aware
that some Israeli citizens have been detained. With
respect to why they're being detained and the other
aspects of your question – whether it's because they're
in intelligence services, or what they were doing – I will
defer to the Department of Justice and the FBI to
answer that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMERON: Beyond the 60 apprehended or detained, and
many deported since Sept. 11, another group of 140 Israeli
individuals have been arrested and detained in this year in
what government documents describe as "an organized
intelligence gathering operation," designed to "penetrate
government facilities." Most of those individuals said they
had served in the Israeli military, which is compulsory there.
But they also had, most of them, intelligence expertise, and
either worked for Amdocs or other companies in Israel
that specialize in wiretapping. Earlier this week, the Israeli
embassy in Washington denied any spying against or in
the United States – Tony.
SNOW: Carl, we've heard the comments from Ari Fleischer
and Colin Powell. What are officials saying behind the scenes?
CAMERON: Well, there's real pandemonium described at the
FBI, the DEA and the INS. A lot of these problems have been
well known to some investigators, many of who have
contributed to the reporting on this story. And what they
say is happening is supervisors and management are now
going back and collecting much of the information, because
there's tremendous pressure from the top levels of all of
those agencies to find out exactly what's going on.
At the DEA and the FBI already a variety of administration reviews
are under way, in addition to the investigation of the phenomenon.
They want to find out how it is all this has come out, as well as be
very careful because of the explosive nature and very political
ramifications of the story itself – Tony.
SNOW: All right, Carl, thanks.
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