Ex-Camden County resident indicted in alleged terror cell held in Paraguay

A former Camden County resident indicted by federal authorities last year over his alleged role in what officials called a U.S.-based Hezbollah terror cell was arrested in Paraguay on Tuesday and faces extradition to the United States, authorities said.

Moussa Ali Hamdan, 38, a native of Lebanon who for a time lived in a $600-a-month efficiency apartment in West Collingswood, was a central figure in a four-year probe led by the FBI's Philadelphia Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Investigators were digging into the terrorist organization's fund-raising and weapons procurement in the United States.

Hamdan, a naturalized U.S. citizen, worked as a carpet installer in Cinnaminson in 2007 and 2008, and operated a low-end car dealership along Route 130. During that period, he bought more than $154,000 worth of what he thought were stolen electronics and cars from undercover agents, authorities said.

Many of the meetings took place in the Deptford Mall parking lot.

Hamdan resold some of the merchandise for personal profit, according to authorities. But he smuggled a portion of the merchandise to be sold overseas to benefit Hezbollah, they allege.

Hamdan proved to be a pivotal figure in the investigation. He led undercover agents and informants working with the investigation to high-level Hezbollah operatives who sold counterfeit cash and sought to purchase assault weapons to be shipped overseas, according to the indictment.

The investigation resulted in the November indictments of 26 suspected Hezbollah operatives and sympathizers in federal court in Philadelphia. Among them was Dani Tarraf, an alleged Hezbollah weapons procurement officer who authorities say gave undercover agents a $20,000 down payment on Stinger antiaircraft missiles.

Patricia Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, said Wednesday that her office was seeking Hamdan's extradition. She could not give a timetable on how long that process could take.

Hamdan fled the country before he could be arrested in the United States last year, authorities said.

Working with Paraguayan police and Interpol officials, task force investigators tracked Hamdan to Ciudad del Este, a crime-ridden city in the loosely policed "tri-border" region of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. The area is a hotbed of Hezbollah activity and fund-raising, said Matthew Levitt, a terrorism expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.