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US arrests global Hezbollah money-laundering network
[Ynet] DEA nabs terror network laundering millions on behalf of narco mobs in order to finance terrorism and operations in Leb and Syria.The United States' Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on Monday declared that an international enforcement operation had caught a Hezbollah network responsible for laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Latin American narco mobs and funding its operations in Syria and Leb with the profits. According to CNN, four people were tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! thanks to the operation, which involved seven countries, including La Belle France, Germany, Italia and Belgium. CNN quoted a statement by DEA Acting Deputy Administrator Jack Riley saying that the targeted division provided "a revenue and weapons stream ... responsible for devastating terror attacks around the world." The network also reported that the investigation in the case began last February and that more arrests are expected. The Hezbollah network apparently cooperated with South American narco mobs, which sent the terror group profits from cocaine deals in Europe and the US. Hezbollah retained some of the money, then laundered the rest and returned it to South and Latin America. DEA front man Rusty Payne told CNN that purchasing and selling high-end used cars was the method for laundering the money, with the launderers occasionally hiding the cash inside the vehicles. The alliance between Hezbollah and the cartels is partly the result of plummeting oil prices and decreased support for the group by Iran. Operatives' salaries have also dropped, causing a crisis in morale. Hezbollah began laundering money for narco mobs in the 1980s via Lebanese immigrants in South America. Terrorism expert Matt Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told CNN that the group will soon be able to raise more funds through drug deals than by any other means. The U.S. Treasury Department last week imposed sanctions against Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine, another alleged Hezbollah money launderer. Noureddine's Trade Point International also was placed under sanctions.
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! in the raid were leaders of the Leb-based terror group's European arm, accused by Washington of laundering Hezbollah funds through a Lebanese front company. The effort formed part of DEA's Project Cassandra, which targeted a global Hezbollah network responsible for the movement of large quantities of cocaine in the United States and Europe. The drug network was established by Imad Mughniyah, the global operations chief of the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group, who died in a kaboom in Damascus on February 12, 2008, reportedly in a joint Mossad-CIA operation that required special approval from US president George W. Bush. It is currently controlled by Abdallah Safieddine and another high-profile terror suspect, Adham Tabaja, according to the DEA. Hebzollah is designated a terror group by the US, Israel and a number of Sunni Arab states. The EU recently declared the group's military wing a terror organization, but left its political arm off the blacklist, despite Israeli lobbying. Posted by: trailing wife 2016-02-04 |
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