UAE uncovers, dismantles Sudan-linked military equipment smuggling and money laundering network

At a time when the world is speaking of one of the largest humanitarian crises globally in Sudan, the United Arab Emirates has revealed the dismantling of a money laundering and arms network whose members are linked to the Sudanese army.

Observers believe the case exposes a facet of the undeclared infrastructure of military supply networks operating in conflict zones, where drones are playing an increasingly significant role in reshaping the nature of military operations.

This technology has become an essential component of the capabilities of armies or armed groups, given its ability to carry out reconnaissance and remote attacks without the need for a direct presence on the battlefield.

This development comes just days after the California Attorney General’s Office announced that Shamim Mafi, an Iranian national holding a permanent residency card (Green Card), was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of brokering a deal to sell drones, bombs, and munitions belonging to Iran to the Sudanese army.

According to the U.S. prosecution, the case involves a contract exceeding $70 million related to Mohajer-6 drones and 55,000 bomb detonators, noting that these items are listed in the case file.

The day before yesterday, Counselor Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, Attorney General of the UAE, ordered the referral of 19 defendants, including six companies registered in the country, to the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal (State Security Chamber), on charges of committing crimes related to the illicit trafficking of military equipment, forgery, and money laundering.

According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the referral decision followed extensive investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution, which revealed that the defendants attempted to pass a shipment of munitions to the Port Sudan Authority through UAE territory, in explicit violation of the country’s applicable laws and regulations.

Investigations showed that the incidents in question were linked to deals carried out at the request of the Armament Committee of the Port Sudan Authority, chaired by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Yasser al-Atta, and coordinated by Othman Mohamed Al-Zubair Mohamed. The scope of the accusations also included figures attributed with roles in direction and coordination, among them Salah Abdallah Mohamed Saleh (known as Salah Gosh).

WAM indicated that investigations uncovered that the defendants executed their plan through two interconnected deals characterized by prior planning and the use of commercial and financial front entities to conceal the illicit nature of the operations.

In the first deal, concluded outside the country, an agreement was reached to supply military equipment including Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns, and grenades, with a declared value of $13 million, while its actual value did not exceed $10 million.

The difference was allocated as illicit commissions agreed to be distributed among the defendants in return for their roles in arranging and facilitating the transaction. Payments were routed through licensed companies and bank accounts within the country under the cover of fictitious commercial transactions.

According to the investigations, the second deal took place within the country using more than $2 million from the proceeds of the first deal to execute an urgent supply of additional ammunition (Geranov). The first part of the shipment was brought into the country through fraudulent means via a private aircraft, in preparation for its transfer to Port Sudan.

Investigations pointed out that the plan was not limited to the seized shipment but extended to the smuggling of five million additional Geranov rounds through six other deals prepared by the defendants. The investigations clarified that foiling the first shipment prevented the execution of those operations.

Security agencies monitored the movements of the defendants and recorded their conversations after obtaining authorization for surveillance and recording from the UAE Attorney General, enabling them to seize the first shipment of ammunition and arrest five of the defendants. They indicated that the plan aimed to smuggle five million Geranov rounds through six deals.

Meanwhile, Sudanese activist Abdel Moneim Suleiman said: “When high-ranking leaders become involved in arms deals through brokers and shell companies extending from Abu Dhabi to Washington, it can no longer be called an army, nor can it be described as a defense of the homeland.”

He noted that “what is happening today should not be read as the act of a coup-born army, but rather as a complete organic transformation: from a regular army into an ideological militia wearing military uniform, managed by a network of overlapping interests among clerics, arms dealers, and international brokers, while Sudan burns in the background.”

He added that: “What the UAE authorities revealed yesterday, by referring a network linked to the Sudanese army for trial, after U.S. authorities arrested an Iranian network working in arms smuggling and sales on behalf of the Sudanese army a week earlier, was not a criminal coincidence, but a revealing image of how the war in Sudan is being managed.”

He continued: “The precise name for this activity is the war economy, run by a group whose logic is no different from any transnational criminal organization, except that it possesses an additional advantage: military ranks and a government seal.”

He stressed that: “This infrastructure of institutional corruption is not built in a day, nor dismantled by political rhetoric. The use of civilian companies as fronts to pass arms deals, and the manipulation of invoices to generate illicit profits, indicates that those in control of this army do not think with the mindset of a military commander, but with that of a contractor who ensures the continuation of contracts as long as the war continues.”

Meanwhile, Brigadier Dr. Mohamed Awad Fadlallah, in his capacity as a former head of the financial administration at the Sudanese Army General Command, previously presented shocking testimony regarding the high level of corruption within the Sudanese army, sparking widespread controversy.

Fadlallah spoke of a “near-total exemption for companies and institutions affiliated with the armed forces and related funds from customs and taxes, with fees recorded as ‘debt’ on the Ministry of Finance and then written off in final accounts, thereby shifting the burden onto the state instead of the benefiting entities.”

He also pointed to the “existence of a clearance office in Port Sudan used to register customs and taxes on imports without actual collection, shifting the burden to public finances and the balance of payments.”

He further indicated the “empowerment” of cadres of the Islamic Movement within military companies and economic institutions, and the control of civilian members of the organization (described as ‘drivers’) over financial and administrative decisions, with officers unable to refuse their orders.

He mentioned “large financial transfers outside Sudan away from the state’s financial system,” citing as an example a deal in the military trucks company estimated at around $150 million and considered akin to money laundering, accusing Omdurman National Bank of granting murabaha financing and loans that are not repaid, particularly to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, leading to the accumulation of uncollected debts and a gradual financial collapse since 2009, severe losses by 2014, and subsequently the sale of assets to cover the deficit.