Hezbollah's criminal activities are designed to help plug that gap.
These criminal activities have strengthened the organisation and made it more difficult for Western nations to undermine it.
In 2008, German authorities at Frankfurt airport arrested two Lebanese men carrying more than €8 million raised by a Hezbollah cocaine smuggling ring.
As revealed in the US trial, the FBI source travelled to Beirut in mid-February 2009 to meet Harb's boss, Karaki, who seemed at ease discussing Hezbollah and his own ties to the group.