From: "Gary Britt" 

That person would have the same anonymity at Wal-Mart unless he was trying
to buy 10 at a time or something.

Gary

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:44e14501$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Your focus that a person of Middle Eastern persuasion is the one
> purchasing the cell phones from the gas station is erroneous. While it
> probably is a person requiring some anonymity that could be anyone from
> your neighborhood drug runner to Karl Rove.
>
>
> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
> news:44e13ac9$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> You can't buy brass knuckles and stolen OTC medication (which I assume is
>> selling for less than Wal-Mart prices), crack pipes etc at Wal-Mart.  It
>> makes sense there would be a market for these items somewhere.  What
>> doesn't make sense is for us to believe that Abdul is buying cell phones
>> at the gas station for a higher price than they can buy the same cell
>> phone at Wal-Mart.  To believe that you have to believe Abdul doesn't
>> shop at Wal-Mart for anything.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>> news:44e127c8{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> Many of the local gas stations are owned by the Middle East immigrants
>>> so the phones are being sold out of their stores. It's really a gray
>>> area/sometimes shady  market that they serve and local media in the past
>>> has exposed everything from brass knuckles, stolen OTC medication, to
>>> crack pipes sold from the gas stations and party stores. We are talking
>>> small entrepreneurs looking the other way while they make a buck.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>>> news:44e12329{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Rich, the claim below they are being sold to local gas
stations, etc.
>>>> seems completely insane to me.  Why buy from gas station
when you can
>>>> buy the same phone for less at Wal-Mart.  If the phones were being
>>>> converted to something not sold at Wal-Mart or being
shipped overseas,
>>>> then at least the "its just an innocent
business" claim might make some
>>>> sense, but it makes no sense at all that Arabs in Dearborn
would rather
>>>> pay higher price to gas station than buy from the Wal-Mart
next door.
>>>>
>>>> Gary
>>>>
>>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote
in message
>>>> news:44e11943{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Mike N." 
wrote in message
>>>>> news:7452e2dfqdtfhug4v0oc9cd4hrfbapn4r5{at}4ax.com...
>>>>>> On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:34:47 -0400, "Gary
Britt" 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Where are these cell phones sold, USA or
overseas?  Whose buying them
>>>>>>>rather
>>>>>>>than go to the local Wal-Mart themselves?  Why
only Arabs exploiting
>>>>>>>this
>>>>>>>"opportunity"?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  And if they are indeed reselling them, what a
bunch of dummies as
>>>>>> businessmen!   Why buy in qty 1,000 retail when
they could get a
>>>>>> significant break on that quantity by buying
directly from Tracfone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  More likely, they are just adding a level of
obfuscation for
>>>>>> purchasing
>>>>>> and reselling untraceable cell phones.
>>>>>
>>>>> But I thought Gary Britt  loved the entrepreneur spirit?
>>>>> 'An independent entrepreneur will buy the phones for,
say, $8 each. He
>>>>> will sell them to a distributor for $12, making a $4
profit. Multiply
>>>>> that by a thousand -- about the number of phones the three men
>>>>> arrested in Caro bought in total -- and you have a
$4,000 profit.'
>>>>>
>>>>>
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS05/608140339
/1007/NEWS05
>>>>> It may seem unusual for someone to buy hundreds of
cell phones at a
>>>>> time, but metro Detroiters of Middle Eastern descent
say that practice
>>>>> is part of a long tradition of entrepreneurship in Arab-American
>>>>> communities.
>>>>>
>>>>> From Dearborn to Troy to Sterling Heights, Arab
Americans are a major
>>>>> part of the cell phone business in southeastern
Michigan. At least
>>>>> half of the cell phone businesses in the region are
owned by metro
>>>>> Detroiters of Arab or Chaldean descent, say business
owners in the
>>>>> industry. Many new immigrants or emerging businessmen
earn money by
>>>>> buying the cell phones and then selling them to gas stations,
>>>>> distributors or stores.
>>>>>
>>>>> It's called capitalism, Arab Americans say.
>>>>>
>>>>> In Michigan, "you can talk to almost any family
in the Arab-American
>>>>> community, and they all have some relative in the cell phone
>>>>> business," said Warren David, a Lebanese American
from Northville.
>>>>>
>>>>> If police knew that, perhaps five Arab Americans would
not have been
>>>>> arrested last week on terrorism charges after they
bought hundreds of
>>>>> cell phones, said David, who recently sold his cell
phone business to
>>>>> an Iraqi American.
>>>>>
>>>>> "If they understood us a little more, they might
not jump the gun so
>>>>> quickly," he said.
>>>>>
>>>>> In Ohio on Tuesday, a store employee called police after two
>>>>> 20-year-old Arab-American men from Dearborn bought a
large number of
>>>>> cell phones at a Wal-Mart. The same thing happened
Friday in Caro
>>>>> after three Arab-American men bought 80 phones at one store.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the Ohio case, Osama Abulhassan and Ali Houssaiky
were just trying
>>>>> to make money by buying cell phones so they could sell them to a
>>>>> distributor for a profit, family members said.
>>>>>
>>>>> "The two young men were engaged in a perfectly
legal practice based on
>>>>> the most fundamental principles of our free market
economy," the
>>>>> Abulhassan family said in an e-mail.
>>>>>
>>>>> Here's how the practice sometimes works, said Nasser
Beydoun, head of
>>>>> the Dearborn-based American Arab Chamber of Commerce:
>>>>>
>>>>> An independent entrepreneur will buy the phones for,
say, $8 each. He
>>>>> will sell them to a distributor for $12, making a $4
profit. Multiply
>>>>> that by a thousand -- about the number of phones the three men
>>>>> arrested in Caro bought in total -- and you have a
$4,000 profit.
>>>>>
>>>>> The distributor then will sell the phones at a higher
price to gas
>>>>> station owners, who in turn sell them at a marked-up price.
>>>>>
>>>>> Many people of Arab descent "are traders by
nature," Beydoun said.
>>>>> "That entrepreneurship should not be linked to
terrorism just because
>>>>> they are Arab American."
>>>>>
>>>>> For more than 100 years, the Arab-American community
has tried to turn
>>>>> a profit on everything from trinkets to watches to
electronic goods.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the 1980s, David recalled, blue jeans were the hot
item. And his
>>>>> Lebanese immigrant grandfather often bought and sold
hosiery to make a
>>>>> living.
>>>>>
>>>>> In metro Detroit, Arab Americans are believed to
dominate the cell
>>>>> phone industry not only on the retail level, but also
when it comes to
>>>>> wholesale dealers and accessory stores. Two of the
area's biggest cell
>>>>> phone chains --  Wireless Toyz and Wireless Giant --
are owned by
>>>>> Iraqi Chaldeans.
>>>>>
>>>>> This practice also occurs with other goods. In
Dearborn, for example,
>>>>> Arab-American entrepreneurs buy and sell incense, lighters and
>>>>> flowers.
>>>>>
>>>>> There's a concern that what happened in Ohio and Caro could hurt
>>>>> Arab-American business owners.
>>>>>
>>>>> Abed Ayoub, 26, a Dearborn resident who often works on
legal issues,
>>>>> said he knows of at least two cases in recent months
in which FBI
>>>>> agents questioned Arab Americans after they purchased
large numbers of
>>>>> cell phones from stores.
>>>>>
>>>>> "They're just doing business, nothing more,"
Ayoub said.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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