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Vice Blog

SOMALIA - PIRATE PROFITS UP

While the rest of the world has been feeling the fiscal pinch this week, the pirates of Somalia be ballin', yo (ho-ho). Just yesterday they bagged $1.6m in ransom money following the successful hijacking of a Japanese chemical tanker. And remember recently when they commandeered a Ukranian ship loaded with 33 tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns? Well, they originally asked for $32m to give it back, but this week struck a deal for $8m. So far this year the waters of the Gulf of Aden have proved bountiful for these heavily-armed speedboat gangs, having hijacked over 30 ships and collected over $100m. But boom time might be over now that NATO has woken up to the global security danger posed by lawlessness around Somalia. Until the patrol frigates get there though, just kick off your flip-flops, bust out the khat, and fire your AK-47 into the air like you just don't care because there will be a pirate den party tonight.

Al Jazeera's Inside Story on Piracy