Admiral: Authorities should go after pirate money, rich Somalis buy real estate in East Africa

Admiral: authorities should go after pirate money

WASHINGTON — The top Naval officer in Africa and Europe says authorities need to go after the money being earned by pirates to try to end what has become a scourge on the seas.

Adm. Mark Fitzgerald says it’s no surprise where the money goes. Some is used to resupply pirates with boats and weapons. But leaders in Kenya tell him rich Somalis also are buying up the real estate around the capital of Nairobi and the African nation’s port of Mombasa. Ethiopians report that the same thing is happening in their capital of Addis Ababa.

International warships have been capturing pirates for prosection. But Fitzgerald told a Pentagon press conference Thursday that authorities also should go after pirates’ financiers.