VOA: Lacking money, Hezbollah increases drug trafficking efforts in Europe

2024-10-24 22:13:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is trying to increase drug trafficking in Europe, former US officials told VOA. The Iranian-backed militant group is being hit by an intensified Israeli military offensive that has destroyed the group's main sources of income in Lebanon.

International law enforcement officials told VOA, however, that the group designated a terrorist organization by Washington faces several challenges in expanding its drug-trafficking operations in Europe.

The Lebanese militant group has been facing a financial crisis since Israel escalated attacks on the organization's leaders and infrastructure in Lebanon, according to American and Lebanese sources who spoke to VOA earlier this month.

These attacks include Sunday's Israeli airstrikes on branches of Hezbollah's banking institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan in parts of Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah, including the southern stronghold of Beirut.

The intensification of Israel's offensive comes after 11 months of a limited military response to Hezbollah attacks in the north of the Jewish state. The Lebanese group launched its attacks on Israel a day after the Hamas terror attack in southern Israel on October 7, which ignited the more than 1-year war in the Gaza Strip.

Former US officials, who spoke exclusively to VOA about Hezbollah's international drug-trafficking activities, said their sources in Europe have reported this month an increase in interest from the Lebanese militant group in drug-trafficking on the European continent. .

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah runs a global criminal-financial network, with centers in Africa and Latin America, according to the US Congressional Research Service. The European Union's rule of law agency, Europol, said in a 2022 report that the Hezbollah group also uses the European bloc as a "base for fundraising, recruitment and criminal activities from which they derive significant profits".

The Lebanese group has built a "network of collaborators" in the European Union, suspected of "transporting and distributing drugs and running money laundering operations," the Europol report said.

"I've talked to several traffickers operating in Europe who have been arrested in the past and recruited as law enforcement sources and who have returned to trafficking," says David Asher, a former State Department and Defense Department official. who has dealt with operations against drug trafficking and money laundering by the Hezbollah group, during an interview with VOA on October 9.

"They have told me that they have been contacted to arrange the delivery of the drugs to individuals associated with Hezbollah as quickly as possible," Mr Asher continued.

"This does not mean that the amount of drugs that can be bought on the street has already increased, but I expect this to happen as Hezbollah's funds in Lebanon are at risk and they need to secure more money through illegal routes." .

Thomas Cindric, a retired United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent, told VOA on Monday that people associated with drug trafficking have also reported an increase in drug trafficking activity in Europe from groups linked to Hezbollah, over the past ten days.

An international law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity to VOA last week said organized crime groups linked to Hezbollah "will definitely try to increase activity" as the Lebanese militant group comes under pressure. financial.

"When you are attacked the way Hezbollah is being attacked now by the Israelis, the only way to make a lot of money and quickly is through drug trafficking," says Mr. Cindric.

VOA reached out to the Department of Homeland Security last week to ask if it had noticed the same about the activities of the Hezbollah group, but did not receive a response.

The administration of President Joe Biden has imposed several sanctions on individuals and groups associated with the Hezbollah group as part of efforts to deter its illegal international activities.

Drug trafficking in Europe is a quick way for the Lebanese group to make money because of the large demands," according to Hans Jakob Schindler, Director of the Counter Extremism Project, a US-German non-governmental organization.

"Europe is the biggest consumer of cocaine in the world. It exceeds the United States, so the biggest demand is in Europe," says Mr. Schindler, who has also worked for the German government and the UN Security Council.

Mr. Schindler says the Hezbollah group has established links with South American cartels that ship drugs to West Africa. From there, according to him, the drug is first transported to the northern coast of Africa and then to the southern coast of Europe.

"Unlike drug trafficking, Hezbollah's other methods do not have the ability to quickly secure money," says Mr. Schindler.

Companies linked to the Lebanese militant group, involved in illegal activities, cannot double their income in a few days. The group would also find it difficult to rapidly increase donations and income from the Lebanese diaspora, he said.

Quentin Mugg, a French police officer at Europol and author of the book "Dirty Money" about his work in the fight against organized crime, told VOA last week that reports of Hezbollah's plan to accelerate the trafficking of drug in Europe is reliable.

"I know from past cases that Lebanese criminals or those of Lebanese origin in Europe who have links to Hezbollah were laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking and diverting some of the profits to Hezbollah," Mr Mugg said.

"So we know that Hezbollah was profiting from this money laundering in a structured way. Bearing this in mind, the announcement of the plan to accelerate this activity makes sense", he said.

The international law enforcement official who spoke to VOA said one challenge the Lebanese militant group faces in trying to launder drug-trafficking proceeds is competition from other organized crime groups in Europe.

"It's a very competitive market, so Hezbollah may not be successful," the official said.

Mr Mugg said the Hezbollah group and its associates would also face operations by Europol, which investigates encrypted communications to uncover the identities of major traffickers.