Latin American Narco-Dollars Financing Hezbollah’s Growing Establishment
November 7th, 2008 . by Michael OstrolenkFrom Jamestown Foundation, by By Bernd Kaussler
On October 23, U.S. and Colombian law enforcement agencies announced the break-up of a drug-trafficking ring that channelled part of its profits to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The gang was reportedly involved in distributing cocaine from cartels in Colombia to markets in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, with some of the proceeds going to finance the Lebanese militia (Daily Star [Beirut], October 23). U.S. authorities claimed that the group – a total of 130 suspects have been arrested by Colombian police – was headed by Shukri Mahmud Harb, a Lebanese national who lived in Colombia and allegedly directed laundered money to Hezbollah. A statement issued by the public prosecutor’s bureau said that three defendants – Shukri Mahmud Harb, Ali Muhammad Abd-al-Rahim and Zakariyah Husayn Harb – used false fronts to transfer the drug revenues to Hezbollah. The Colombian prosecutor added, “They used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, the Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances.” According to Gladys Sanchez, the lead investigator for the special prosecutor’s office in Bogota, “The profits from the sale of drugs went to finance Hezbollah” (Al-Jazeera TV, October 23).
