The Somali Pirates who hold ships for ransom off the coast of Somalia are reported to have made up to 50 million dollars last year in ransom payments. According to a report in the Washington Post, those pirates who are able to get paid are living a life of luxury in the poverty stricken country.
Locals say that onshore, the pirates are attended to by prostitutes, nurses, bodyguards and men who procure and deliver their precious khat, a mildly narcotic leaf chewed for its stimulant effects.
Source: Stephanie McCrummen, “Somalia’s Godfathers: Ransom-Rich Pirates,” Washington