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FILE photo of a Somali pirate pictured next to a Taiwanese fishing vessel last year. AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh

Notorious Somali pirate 'Big Mouth' nabbed in undercover operation

The pirate, Mohamed Abdi Hassan, was arrested after going to sign what he thought was a movie contract.

ONE OF SOMALIA’S most notorious pirate leaders, known as “Big Mouth”, is under arrest facing charges of kidnapping and piracy after being tricked into travelling to Belgium.

Federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle said Mohamed Abdi Hassan, known as “Afweyne” or “Big Mouth”, was being held in Bruges after being detained at Brussels airport on Saturday on disembarking from a flight from Nairobi.

He was arrested along with his accomplice, Mohamed Aden Tiiceey, former governor of Himan and Heeb state in central Somalia, the prosecutor said, reading a statement to the press in French and Dutch.

Charges of kidnapping and piracy

Both Afweyne and Tiiceey were facing charges of kidnapping and piracy in the case of the 2009 capture of a Belgian ship, the Pompei, which was seized and held by pirates off the Somali coast for more than 70 days.

Belgian investigators had been working for years to bring the men behind such crimes to book and lured the notorious pirate to Brussels in a scheme that took months, the prosecutor said.

Because Afweyne lived in Somalia and rarely travelled, Belgian police “elaborated an infiltration operation aimed at arresting Afweyne outside of Somalia,” he said.

“The plan was to approach Afweyne through the intermediary of his accomplice named Tiiceey,” his statement added.

Via Tiiceey, Afweyne was asked to collaborate as an advisor and expert on a film project on maritime piracy. The film was supposed to reflect his life as a pirate.

But when Afweyne and Tiiceey landed on Saturday morning to sign the movie contract, “they were expected and taken into custody,” the prosecutor said.

Afweyne announced in Mogadishu in January that he was quitting piracy after a highly profitable eight-year career. He said he was working to persuade other pirates to do the same.

Described last year by the UN as “one of the most notorious and influential leaders” in Somalia’s pirate hub, he notably was involved in the 2008 capture of the Saudi-owned Sirius Star oil supertanker, released for a ransom of several million dollars.

He also reportedly took part in the 2008 capture of the MV Faina, a Ukrainian transport ship carrying 33 refurbished Soviet-era battle tanks, which was released after a 134-day hijack for a reported three million dollars.

Read: EU carries out air strikes on Somali pirates>

Read:Two hostages dead after pirates hijack ship off Somali coast>

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37 Comments
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    Mute Rocky Dennis
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:08 PM

    So it was movie piracy?
    (I’ll show myself out…)

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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:07 PM

    Give him a fair trial and hang him.

    181
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    Mute Barry O Mahoney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:48 PM

    Should have kept his mouth shut

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    Mute mary jones
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:02 PM

    @Paul mc comment of the night!

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    Mute al shamen
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:17 PM

    Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer gets lured in by the ‘free boat giveaway’,only to get nicked for speeding tickets.

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    Mute Gearóid Healy
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:46 PM

    Where’s my motorboat?

    60
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    Mute margaret
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:59 PM

    That’s right, remember the line, “wheres my boat, pig?”

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    Mute Ogie Carbery
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:12 PM

    Make him walk the plank

    174
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    Mute Ronan Stokes
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:33 PM

    Ahar me hearties!

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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:07 PM

    Big Mouth, more like Small Brain.

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    Mute Kevin D'Arcy
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:31 PM

    What did he expect!? Hanging around with film crews and Tom Hanks he was bound to get caught!

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    Mute Chris Smith
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:19 PM

    This is good news. It’s about time governments stopped being nice to terrorists who disguise themselves as pirates. They are nothing but fronts for Al-Shabaab/Al-Qaeda. I’m a ship’s master spending a lot of my time in the Piracy Zone of the Gulf of Aden and endorse any measures that will restore freedom of the seas. For more intuitive background to this sad part of the world and the life of pirates and those seafarers working in the area, check out Amazon Books – ‘The Megiddo Revenge’ http://amzn.com/B00F4NP1KW

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    Mute Brendan Slattery
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:54 PM

    Reminds me of the south park episode whrn cartman sings the pirate song

    We drink and we pillage and we do what we please
    We get all that we want for free
    We’ll kick your ass
    And rape your lass
    Somalian pirates we

    So with a yo ho ho
    And with a yee hee hee
    We take to the African sea
    We’ll brave the squalls
    And bust your balls
    Somalian pirates we

    We left our homes and we left our mothers
    To go on a pillaging spree
    We’ll cut off your ears
    And break your toes
    And make you drink our pee

    And if you sail into our waters
    You best hear this decree
    We’ll take your boat
    Set your ass afloat
    Somalian pirates we

    With a yo ho ho (yo ho ho)
    And a tricky lah-tee do (tricky lah-tee do)
    We’ll shoot you in the face with glee
    Then we’ll cut off your cock
    And feed it to a croc
    Somalian pirates we

    Somalian pirates we
    Somalian pirates we

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    Mute Dalai Obama
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:16 PM

    We, the west, are plundering billions of tons of fish from around the coast of Somalia, we are taking their livelyhoods away from them.

    Chines boats/aussie/kiwi/american/japanese and european boats are plundering the waters on a daily basis.

    These facts are apparently not news worthy.

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    Mute Matt
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:22 PM

    Just like the French and Spanish off the Irish coast.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:54 PM

    Dalai, “billions of tons”? People like you love to exaggerate.

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    Mute John Mcloughlin
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:12 PM

    Hear ! Hear! Matt

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Oct 14th 2013, 9:05 PM

    Dalai — Well said, brother.

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    Mute Stephen McMahon
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    Oct 14th 2013, 9:45 PM

    Average weight of a big Cod is ten kg. A ton is a thousand kg. Therefore 100 big Cod makes a ton. Billion tons equals 100 billion large cod. That’s a lot of fish.

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    Mute Declan noonan
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    Oct 14th 2013, 11:07 PM

    Petr, fishing for red thumbs are you ? ;)

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Oct 14th 2013, 11:12 PM

    Only a simpleton would come here to court popularity. I call it as I see it, Declan. I don’t give a hoot about red thumbs.

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Oct 14th 2013, 11:42 PM

    Don’t you call me a simpleton….

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    Mute Sim
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    Oct 15th 2013, 3:05 AM

    Glad to see that for once we can agree that it’s not simply the Islamic mentality that makes them do it…

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Oct 15th 2013, 3:31 AM

    Petr, how much money did this guy make off piracy? Did he give back to his community? Did he build schools, did he build hospitals? What did he do with the money? Did he share it with other fisherman who’s lively hoods were taking away by other people fishing their grounds?
    You love these guys don’t you because they are sticking it to the west.
    I’m sure he was a benevolent individual like all the other pirates.
    Btw I’m being sarcastic in my last sentence.

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    Mute jack arse
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:18 PM

    Nice to see my trocaire box helped buy some nice guns to hijack passing ships

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    Mute Ollie Owens
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:13 PM

    That made my evening :)

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    Mute boiledsweets
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:11 PM

    Big trout lips,small brain. HaHa

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    Mute Begrudgy
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:18 PM

    Maybe if certain corporations were not using the waters around Somalia as an illegal dumping ground for toxic waste destroying the fishing trade and way of life for alot of Somalians we wouldn’t have had these pirates.
    I read now that insurance companies are cleaning up on premiums being charged with the risk involved in shipping for this area.

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    Mute Francis Joseph Malone
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:34 PM

    Aaaarrr. Thats not fair!;)

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    Mute Warren Tony
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:51 PM

    Wanted to be a mover star but ended up behind bars lol that would make an even better movie :))

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    Mute Jazz O'Gorman
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:06 PM

    Was it Black Hawk Down 2.

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    Mute Stephen McMahon
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    Oct 14th 2013, 11:04 PM

    Wrong plaice, wrong time. Caught by the pollocks.

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Oct 14th 2013, 11:43 PM

    Jack Sparrow wouldn’t fall for that one…

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    Mute micheal285
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    Oct 14th 2013, 9:10 PM

    Shoot him !

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    Mute Sam WTF Rockwell
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    Oct 14th 2013, 10:45 PM

    Send in the seals …

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    Mute Ronan o Chuna
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    Oct 14th 2013, 11:48 PM

    I wonder if they lured him into an alcove

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    Mute Seán Tynan
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    Oct 15th 2013, 3:32 AM

    Sounds like a good film .

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