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WASHINGTON Apr 10, 2009 — Five
well-organized pirate groups conduct most of the pirate attacks off the
coast of Somalia, but they hire local fisherman to ferry them out to
their quarry to avoid detection, according to a memo prepared by the
staff of the House Armed Services Committee in early March.
It is very much a business. According to the memo, one captured pirate
explained how the ransom — on average $1 million to $2 million per boat
— is divided among participants. Twenty percent goes to the bosses of
the group, 20 percent is capital investment, to include guns,
ammunition, fuel, food, cigarettes and other provisions for future
missions, 30 percent to the pirates, and 30 percent in bribes to
government officials.
In 2008, pirates operating off Somalia earned $30 million in ransom
through the seizure of 42 vessels.
The pirate groups draw their members from large provincial clans, which
are extended family networks that divided themselves into smaller
subclans, the memo reported.
The most active groups include:
_Eyl, from the Isse Mahmud and Leelkasse subclans of the Darood clan.
_Garad, from the Omar Mahmuud subclan of the Darood clan.
_Hobyo, from the Habargedir sub clan of the Hawiye clan.
_Hardheere, from the Habargedir subclan of the Hawiye clan.
_Mogadishu, from the Habargedir subclan of the Hawiye clan.
Source: AP
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