Somali Pirates are causing increasing chaos off the shores of Africa. They are hijacking ships from numerous countries, holding their crews hostage, and demanding millions of dollars in ransom money.
After hijacking an American cargo ship last week, and holding Capt.Richard Phillips hostage they got the attention of the World's most powerful Military. The situation began to grow tense from days of negotiation that was going nowhere. The order was then given for the Navy Seals to open fire, which they promptly did killing three of the Pirates.
The Somali Pirates then pledged retaliation hijacking two more ships, and shooting at a third just 2 days after the incident. The Pirates then proceeded to say that they would continue hijacking ships, and if their ransom demands are not met they will kill the hostages.
These modern-day Pirates in many ways operate like organized gangs. Instead of dealing drugs or running illegal guns, they hijack ships, take hostages and demand millions in ransom. In the past year alone they collected over 30 million dollars in ransom money. It is extremely profitable to them, and chances are they won't stop anytime soon.
Somali Pirates live large
Like multi-million dollar Drug Cartels these modern-day Pirates live extravagant lifestyles. With money comes power, and they show no signs of slowing down.
Piracy seems to be socially acceptable in their country. In many ways they are looked up to by the rest of society. Pirate gangs are living like Kings. They Marry the most beautiful women, live in huge mansions, drive the finest cars, and have the newest weapons. Meanwhile half of the countries population have needed food aid after almost 20 years of non stop conflict.
Somali Pirate shot callers
These gangs primarily consist of three different categories:
1. Ex-Fisherman, With their extensive knowledge of the sea they are considered to be the "Brains" of the operation.
2. Ex-Militiamen, Having fought for Somali clan Warlords, they are obviously the muscle.
3. The Techs, These are the computer geeks who operate the Military hardware, satellite phones, and GPS.
These three groups share the spoils of their multi-million dollar cash ransoms paid by the shipping companies.
Piracy has been a problem for over 10 years in this region. It all started when Somali fisherman began losing their livelihoods to the illegal trawlers that were raiding their fishing waters. These gangs don't refer to themselves as Pirates, they call themselves "Coastguards".
