Thread by @orielishamiller

#Hezbollah known as a Lebanese terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime.

How did Hezbollah turn from an ordinary terrorist organization into an international drug cartel and a global threat, and how do they use the drug networks to finance their terrorism?

Thread🧵

Cannabis and opium fields in Lebanon’s Baqaa Valley aren’t new. They’ve been there for nearly 100 years.
In the 30s, the French Mandate struggled after a crackdown on hashish in Bekaa. Since the 60s, drug production grew, and during the Civil War and Lebanon’s economic collapse,

drugs became a major industry. Syrian forces occupying Bekaa encouraged this, and within a few years, 90% of crops were drugs. By the 80s, 40% of Bekaa’s population worked in the drug trade, creating a $4B economy. Lebanon became one of the world’s largest drug producers.

After the Civil War, Lebanon’s government, with the UN, launched a plan to fight drug production, but it didn’t succeed. A new player had emerged: Hezbollah.

Founded with Iran’s help in the 1980s to spread Shia Islamic revolution and expand Iran’s influence, Hezbollah quickly---

realized that despite Iran’s hundreds of millions in annual funding, they needed another income source. As the group grew, it required more resources and wanted to secure economic independence in case Iran couldn’t fund them.

That’s when Hezbollah entered the drug trade. At first, they didn’t deal drugs directly but taxed Lebanese growers and cartels and used the networks to gather intel on Israeli drug dealers.

But taxing drug cartels wasn’t enough.
Hezbollah soon sent representatives to South America and West Africa to build connections and networks. They formed strong ties with Colombian cartels, smuggling drugs from Lebanon to the U.S., South America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Cartels helped them launder money and send it back to Lebanon for Hezbollah’s use. In West Africa, especially in Ivory Coast and Nigeria, Hezbollah set up a large network to smuggle drugs, mainly cannabis and cocaine, to Europe.

In 2004, the DEA intercepted calls from Colombian drug dealers, mentioning Chekry Harb, a Lebanese dealer nicknamed “Taliban.” It soon became clear he was working with cartels for Hezbollah, helping them distribute drugs from Colombia to the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.

In return, Harb sent Hezbollah a cut of the profits. This interception led to a joint operation between the DEA, Mossad’s “Tzilyzal” unit, and other intelligence agencies to uncover Hezbollah’s drug and money laundering network.

How did it work? Harb’s network smuggled cocaine from Colombia via Venezuela to the U.S., Europe, and the ME. After selling the cocaine, Harb used the money to buy goods in East Asia, sold them, and then transferred the money through Lebanese banks to his clients and Hezbollah.

A key area for Hezbollah’s network, led by Harb, was the Tri-Border region between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. This area, with a large Lebanese Shia community, served as a base for Hezbollah to distribute drugs to the U.S.

After years of investigation, 130 people linked to Hezbollah’s network were arrested in 2008. Due to early DEA arrests after an undercover agent was exposed, not all of Hezbollah’s criminal ties were revealed. Some remained, and Hezbollah has since worked hard to rebuild them.

With growing ties between Venezuela and Iran, Hezbollah used Venezuela as a drug base. Ayman Joumaa, working for Hezbollah, coordinated with Venezuelan officials like Tareck El Aissami to move drugs for local cartels. Venezuela became a gateway for Colombian drugs into the U.S.

On weekly flights between Venezuela, Tehran, and Damascus, weapons were sent to Venezuela, while drugs were sent to Damascus and Tehran. Between 7-10 tons of cocaine were transported weekly.

Hezbollah helped South American cartels and West African smugglers, receiving a share of the profits, expanding their network and revenues.

Hezbollah’s annual budget is estimated at $1 billion, with $300-400 million coming from drug trafficking. After the 2006 Lebanon war, Hezbollah needed massive funds to rebuild, so they increased their drug operations.

Hezbollah’s Business Affairs Unit, under the External Operations Department, manages these activities. This department also oversees global terror operations, showing how Hezbollah uses the drug network also to build terror infrastructure and execute attacks.

You may wonder how Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist terror group, allows drug dealing when drugs are forbidden (haram) in Islam.

Hezbollah received a fatwa from Iranian clerics allowing drug sales as part of their war against the West.

They see drug distribution as a way to weaken the West and their Sunni enemies.

According to an FBI report, Hezbollah’s Sharia leader, Muhammad Yazbak, stated, “Drug trafficking is morally acceptable if sold to Western infidels as part of the war against Islam’s enemies.”

After the DEA’s first operation caught Chekry Harb and 130 others, they began tracking Ayman Joumaa, who worked closely with Hezbollah’s envoy to Iran. Joumaa, based in Colombia, worked with South American cartels to smuggle hundreds of kilos of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe.

His biggest role, though, was money laundering.

Hezbollah’s problem was making too much money from drug sales, so they laundered it by buying used cars, shipping them to West Africa, where Hezbollah’s Ali Kourani sold them in Benin.

The laundered money went back to Lebanon for Hezbollah, with the rest reinvested in drug production. At its peak, the laundering brought in $200-300 million a month.

Hezbollah deposited their drug money, both laundered and direct, into Lebanese Canadian Bank in Beirut, where they owned 27%. Over 18 months, they moved $5.5 billion through these accounts, using some for drug purchases and the rest for terror funding and military buildup.

In 2011, after years of investigation, U.S. authorities indicted Lebanese Canadian Bank, leading to its closure. Unlike Chekry Harb, Ayman Joumaa escaped to Beirut and remains hidden in Lebanon.

These aren’t the only global operations against Hezbollah, but they are the largest. Each revealed Hezbollah’s massive drug network, used to fund terror, weaken enemies, and build terror infrastructur

Today, after years of pressure on Hezbollah’s South American drug operations, they shifted to large-scale drug production closer to home in Lebanon.

Along the Syria-Lebanon border, they produce Captagon, distributing it with the Syrian regime to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and beyond. Captagon trafficking has surged globally due to this collaboration.

There’s much more to cover about Hezbollah’s drug network today. If interested, let me know, and I’ll expand.