Episode 032: Brig Barker - Arabic and Blood Diamonds - a podcast by Jerri Williams

Retired agent Brig Barker served in the FBI for twenty years. As a combat veteran and a highly respected linguist with full fluency in Arabic and a professional working proficiency in German, during his Bureau career Brig was frequently deployed overseas to work on major counterterrorism matters. From 1998 until his recent retirement, Brig was assigned to operational investigations in Nairobi, Kenya; Kampala, Uganda; Cairo, Egypt; London, England; Freetown, Sierra Leone; and Tunis, Tunisia; to name a few. In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Brig Barker reviews how he used his fluency in Arabic to investigate international matters such as the illicit trade of blood diamonds to terrorist organizations. During his deployment to Sierra Leone, he was tasked with officially opening the FBI Attaché office there and establishing liaison with local leaders and diamond merchants. He initiated the investigation in to allegations that profits from the sale of blood diamonds were being funneled to terrorist organizations. Allegedly, diamonds were being used for this purpose due to the gem's high value and portability. Brig now operates his own global security consulting company, Counterterrorism Consultants International (ct-consultants.com).

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