'BIN LADEN'S COCAINE PLOT'
Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, spike it with poison and sell it in the United States hoping to kill thousands, according to reports.
The plot failed when Colombian drug lords decided it would be bad for business if they got involved in the deal.
An investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration has examined how advanced the plot became when it was hatched a year after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
The Washington Post has reviewed a document detailing the DEA's findings in the matter, in addition to interviewing sources familiar with the case.
Osama bin Laden personally met leaders of a Colombian drug cartel to in 2002 to negotiate the purchase of tons of cocaine, saying that he was willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to finance the deal.
"They wanted to kill thousands of people - more than the World Trade Centre," said a source.
Although the drug lords would have reaped millions of dollars in profits by selling the cocaine to bin Laden, they knew that if his plan succeeded it might effectively destroy the market for their cocaine in America.
The other was their fear of retaliation from the US government once its citizens started to die from the drugs, according to sources.
Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, spike it with poison and sell it in the United States hoping to kill thousands, according to reports.
The plot failed when Colombian drug lords decided it would be bad for business if they got involved in the deal.
An investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration has examined how advanced the plot became when it was hatched a year after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
The Washington Post has reviewed a document detailing the DEA's findings in the matter, in addition to interviewing sources familiar with the case.
Osama bin Laden personally met leaders of a Colombian drug cartel to in 2002 to negotiate the purchase of tons of cocaine, saying that he was willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to finance the deal.
"They wanted to kill thousands of people - more than the World Trade Centre," said a source.
Although the drug lords would have reaped millions of dollars in profits by selling the cocaine to bin Laden, they knew that if his plan succeeded it might effectively destroy the market for their cocaine in America.
The other was their fear of retaliation from the US government once its citizens started to die from the drugs, according to sources.
