Yemen's (P.T.O.C) platform reveals Houthi networks for smuggling weapons and African fighters

The Platform for Tracking Organized Crime and Money Laundering in Yemen (P.T.O.C) revealed in a new report sensitive information and documents issued by the security and intelligence apparatus of the Iran-backed Houthis, regarding the smuggling of weapons from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and vice versa, as well as human trafficking.

The report, titled "Smuggling Weapons and Fighters" includes secret information and details being published for the first time, as a continuation of the first report on the external expansion and African horn of Houthi terrorism.

The report confirms that the Houthi militia heavily relies on smuggling weapons by boats across the Red Sea, through African smugglers and mafia under the supervision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, with the weapons being delivered to a number of countries bordering the Red Sea (Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan) before being assembled and delivered to the Houthis through the port of Hodeidah.

A secret document obtained by the platform revealed the involvement of Abraham Afwerki, the son of Eritrean President Afwerki, in weapons smuggling activities to the Houthi group in Yemen.

The first Yemeni platform specialized in monitoring and tracking the financial and terrorist crimes of the Houthis, enhances its report with documents and detailed information that revealed the existence of a wide network for smuggling weapons to some African countries through Hodeidah after arriving from Iran, with the aim of feeding its intelligence elements in those countries.

The platform said in its report that Djibouti has ties with malicious entities such as Iran and the Houthis, and accused them of involvement in various activities in the black market, including money laundering, illicit financing, oil smuggling, and arms trafficking. It has also become a transit point for smuggling weapons on behalf of Iran and its proxies in Yemen and the region.

According to intelligence information, those carrying out this activity include a number of individuals within a large network led by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard within the Houthi expansion cell in the Horn of Africa, led by a person named Abdul Wahed Abu Ras, as well as the security and intelligence apparatus and the Houthi jihadist office that diversifies sources of weapons for the Houthis, acquiring weapons from India and Pakistan, and then smuggling them to the Houthis in Yemen.

The report identified a list of arms dealers who are re-smuggling weapons from Sudan to Yemen by transporting them to the Eritrean islands, where smugglers then transport them from the Eritrean islands across the sea to Hodeidah, and from there they are transported to the Houthis.

The report highlights the role of Abdul Rida Shahla'i, considered a key financier and leader in Yemen, and one of the Iranian officials responsible for smuggling weapons into Yemen, who was the target of a failed American strike. Shahla'i is one of the prominent Iranian military leaders present in Yemen, and is one of the prominent leaders of the Quds Force, the armed wing of the Revolutionary Guard that implements Iran's expansion project in the region by supporting sectarian militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Iran continues to supply the Houthi militia in Yemen with various types of weapons, especially since the outbreak of the war in late March 2015, in order to prolong the war and destabilize security and stability in Yemen and the region. The frequency of weapons smuggling to the Houthis has increased against the backdrop of the war being waged by Israel against Gaza since October 7th, with Iran supplying the Houthis with ballistic and winged missiles and drones to target international navigation in the Red Sea since November 19th.

The Platform stated in its report that Iran uses the ports of Bandar Abbas and Jask to smuggle weapons to the Houthis through routes starting from Iran along the coasts of Mahrah Governorate, then from Somalia and Djibouti to the port of Hodeidah. Intelligence sources also indicate that weapons are shipped from Iran to East Asian countries, and then to Yemen, with Iranian smugglers using this method because there is no focus on goods coming from East Asia to Yemeni ports.

The report highlighted that Hadramout Governorate is a major smuggling route for Iranian weapons, whether coming through overland crossings from Oman, or by sea from the coasts of Oman and neighboring Al-Mahra, or by sea from the coasts of Somalia and Djibouti, or those shipped to small boats through transshipment at sea. Once the weapons shipment reaches the Yemeni shores, they are transferred to nearby secret warehouses before being smuggled in batches by land using commercial cargo trucks and vehicles to areas under Houthi control in Sana'a and Saada.

The (P.T.O.C) obtained information about the smuggling of Africans by the Houthis, training them, and exploiting them in various fields. The Houthi terrorist militia operates through a network of smugglers to transport and smuggle African refugees to and from Yemen and neighboring Gulf countries, imposing financial fees on the refugees that the smugglers collect and deliver to Houthi security leaders, with the cost of smuggling per individual ranging between $200-500.

The report also warned of the continued risks of weapons smuggling to and from the Houthis, calling for increased naval patrols in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to prevent arms smuggling and human trafficking, and for the imposition of international sanctions on individuals and entities involved in arms smuggling and human trafficking for the benefit of the Houthi group.

Click here to read the full report in Arabic and English.