In an investigative report that undoubtedly put her own life in danger, CBS foreign correspondent Holly Williams posed as an ISIS wife and uncovered a human smuggling syndicate that promised to transport her and her mock husband to Germany. It was a shocking report that dominated Thursday’s CBS Evening News.
Williams met with the leader of a “smuggling syndicate” in Athens, Greece, whose “usual customers are migrants and refugees”, she admitted. She went on to explain: “Filming with a hidden camera, we set up a meeting with al Rayes. He comes from north Africa and runs a smuggling syndicate. Moving people from Athens to western Europe for around $8,000 each.”
Mixing voiceover narration and the hidden camera footage, Williams shared the smuggler’s business pitch:
WILLIAMS [Speaking to smuggler]: Could I talk to him about where we...
[Narration] I posed not as a refugee but as an ISIS wife who wanted safe passage to Germany.
[Speaking to smuggler] My husband and I are with the Islamic State.
[Narration] "No problem" al Rayes said. In fact, he told us he'd moved other ISIS members before.
AL RAYES: One Guy, England. Another one, he go Vienna. Another one, he go Sweden, another one Switzerland.
WILLIAMS: [Speaking to smuggler] From the Islamic State? No problems?
AL RAYES: Yeah yeah, with no problems.
“He even bragged that he'd smuggled three brothers of notorious Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musabl al-Zarqawi, a claim we cannot confirm,” she added.
Williams and her crew went undercover again and discovered criminals that sold stolen travel documents, including U.S. passports. “They try to match their customers with an I.D. photo they resemble,” she explained. “Then, the smugglers use the stolen documents to fly people from Athens to Spain or Italy, where they claim security is lax. From there, they can travel anywhere in western Europe with no border checks.”
As she wrapped her report, Williams noted that Greek police were conducting operations to crackdown on the human smugglers. But she warned that “several members of the ISIS terror cell that carried out attacks in France and Belgium came through Greece, and there are fears that criminals like al Rayes have already helped ISIS sleeper cells make their way into the heart of Europe.”
The transcript is below click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
September 12, 2019
6:40:43 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Now a CBS News investigation. ISIS remains an active threat to the west, long after it was all but wiped out in Syria. And tonight Holly Williams goes undercover to expose how human smugglers are helping ISIS fighters infiltrate western Europe.
[Cuts to video]
HOLLY WILLIAMS: Human smuggling is big business in Athens, and now CBS news has found evidence that ISIS members are being moved through Greece to the rest of Europe.
This is the area around Omonoia Square in central Athens, which is notorious as a center of criminal activity. And there are human smuggling gangs operating here.
Filming with a hidden camera, we set up a meeting with al Rayes. He comes from north Africa and runs a smuggling syndicate. Moving people from Athens to western Europe for around $8,000 each.
AL RAYES: From Athens you go Italy. After you in there Italy, I have people to help you with everything. [Transition] No problem. It’s very easy.
WILLAIMS: His usual customers are migrants and refugees. Hundreds of thousands have come to Greece from the Middle East, many making the dangerous crossing by boat. They're dreaming of a better life in western Europe and al Rayes and other smugglers can get them there.
[Speaking to smuggler] Could I talk to him about where we...
[Narration] I posed not as a refugee but as an ISIS wife who wanted safe passage to Germany.
[Speaking to smuggler] My husband and I are with the Islamic State.
[Narration] "No problem" al Rayes said. In fact, he told us he'd moved other ISIS members before.
AL RAYES: One Guy, England. Another one, he go Vienna. Another one, he go Sweden, another one Switzerland.
WILLIAMS: [Speaking to smuggler] From the Islamic State? No problems?
AL RAYES: Yeah yeah, with no problems. [Transition] Musab al Zarqawi, Musab al Zarqawi.
WILLAIMS: He even bragged that he'd smuggled three brothers of notorious Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musabl al-Zarqawi, a claim we cannot confirm.
The smugglers used stolen identity documents. We went undercover again, this time posing as smugglers ourselves, and found criminals with hundreds of them for sale in Athens, including U.S. passports. They try to match their customers with an I.D. photo they resemble. Then, the smugglers use the stolen documents to fly people from Athens to Spain or Italy, where they claim security is lax. From there, they can travel anywhere in western Europe with no border checks.
The Greek police are targeting human smugglers and have made arrests. But several members of the ISIS terror cell that carried out attacks in France and Belgium came through Greece, and there are fears that criminals like al Rayes have already helped ISIS sleeper cells make their way into the heart of Europe. Holly Williams, CBS News, Athens.
