Thread by @JewhadiTM

Hezbollah Is Ramping Up South of the US clarionproject.org/hezbollah-is-r…

Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah is ramping up south of the US border, as witnessed by arrests of its operatives in Bolivia and Peru.

The State Dept’s top counter terror official, Nathan Sales, confirmed the increased presence of Iran & Hezbollah in Latin and South America.

In Bolivia, “large caches of military equipment and explosives” belonging to Hezbollah jihadis were found in the La Paz area. Jihads have also been dispatched to Peru, where prosecutions of operatives by the government is ongoing.

Last year in Paraguay, Hezbollah-linked individuals – some with connections to U.S. were arrested for money laundering and drug trafficking, according to the State Dept Panama also worked with the U.S. on a number of counter-terror efforts with suspects linked to Hezbollah

The State Department recently revealed Iran spent close to $1 billion per year on terrorism, including $700 million which the Islamic Republic gives annually to Hezbollah.

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Hezbollah, named the world’s richest terror organization by Forbes, has an annual income of $1.1 billion, making up the rest of its funds through drug trafficking and money laundering, primarily in Latin America.

Meanwhile, a trial began in Paris this week of 15 suspected members of an enormous crime ring accused of laundering Colombian drug money through Lebanese middlemen.

The prime defendant in the trial, Mohamad Noureddine, has been sanctioned by the U.S. for his alleged links to Hezbollah. The U.S. says Noureddine ran a network spanning from South America to Europe and the Middle East since 2012.

The head of Hezbollah is likely Mohammed Ammar, who was arrested in FL shortly after Noureddine’s arrest in 2016, for illegally moving 100s of thousands of $ into banks in Miami. Ammar regularly traveled between CA and Colombia and admitted his ties to Colombian drug cartels.