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August 6, 2003
   
 US and British troops are cracking down on the decade old Iraqi smuggling operation. Long a backbone for criminal gangs in Iraq, the oil theft and smuggling operation was so lucrative, and pervasive, that Saddam Hussein demanded, and got, a cut of the proceeds. With Saddam and Company gone, the oil bandits are making even more money. But increased land and sea patrols on the Gulf and Iran border are crimping the racket. This is making some heavily armed Iraqis very unhappy.