High level officials of Hezbollah are directly involved in South American Cocaine trade. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran together are world’s leading narcotics suppliers for opium, heroin.
@prashanthamine
Mumbai: Global interconnection of Latin American governments and Middle Eastern terrorist groups came to light with the arrest of Walid Makled, Venezuela’s very own Pablo Escobar from Bogota in Colombia on August 19, 2020. Makled originally hails from the Middle East and was known by his Latin nicknames – ‘El Turco’, Al Arbe.
What has surprised governments, international bodies and experts alike is the growing number of foreign nationals getting caught in the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent. Likewise, Middle Eastern terrorists and outfits like the Hezbollah and the Al Qaeda finding their way to Latin America.
According to Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), Venessa Newmann’s 2011 report, there is growing cooperation between South American drug traffickers and Middle Eastern terror outfits. A great portion of financing for Middle Eastern terrorist groups including Hezbollah and the Al Qaeda is coming from Latin America, adds Newmann.
A great portion of financing for Middle Eastern terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Al Qaeda is coming from Latin America. Iran has direct influence in Latin America. High level officials from Hezbollah are directly involved in Cocaine trade. Venezuela has cooperative agreements with Syria, Libya and Iran.
Tse Chilop, a Canadian national was recently arrested in Amsterdam. Chilop’s syndicate was in league with El Chapo and Pablo Escobar in South America. Lebanese, Ayman Joumaa of the Medellin cartel in South American Cocaine trafficking has had deep ties with Hezbollah in South Lebanon. While, Iranian, Mohsen Rabbani has been active in Brazil.
Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel has presence in 17 states of Mexico. But more than that it has its presence or operates in almost the entire America, South America, South-East Asia, few countries in Africa, Europe, Australia, barring Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is by far the deadliest of the cartels that is engaged in distribution of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin from both Colombia and Southeast Asia, to be introduced both in the United States, and in Europe and South America.
Most violent Mexican gang is the Los Zetas. What is most interesting to note here is that Las Zetas gang has its own Womens Gang wing called the Las Panteras where women gang members carry out the same kind of operations that their male counterparts do, and they are armed to the teeth with modern assault weapons!
Peru which is known as the world’s largest Coca/Cocaine producer in the world has declared the Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (Partido Comunista del Perú – Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) – PCP-SL) as a terrorist organisation. In June-December 1987, in Peru, terror groups like the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) had clashed for control of Upper Huallaga valley route. The Shining Path guerrillas in 2010 had clashed with the security forces who were out to destroy Coca crops in the Upper Huallaga valley.
In the run-up to the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, Al Qaeda terrorists were smuggled out of Afghanistan through Iran, Central Asian republics and Ukraine.
In the recent Ludhiana district court complex blast case Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya dismissed head constable Gagandeep Singh, killed in the Ludhiana court blast had links with Khalistani elements and terror outfits, and some Pakistan-based entities could be behind the incident.
For the last 20 months, Punjab police and Intelligence agencies have been reporting incidents of drones being used to drop drugs and weapons into border areas of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. In a recent incident, a drone was used by Khalistani elements based in Pakistan to drop almost 80 Kgs of weapons and drugs into the Indian side of Punjab.
According to Emma Bjornehed, researcher and project coordinator for the project on Terrorism and Conflict at the Program for Contemporary Silk Road Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden, “the concept of Narco-terrorism originates from an understanding of narcotics trafficking and terrorism are interconnected.” Bjornehed has published her study in her research paper “Narco-Terrorism: The Merger of the War on Drugs and the War on Terror” in Global Crime in August-November, 2004.
“The term narco-terrorism was first used to describe campaign by drug traffickers using terrorist methods, such as the use of car bombs, assassinations and kidnappings, against anti-narcotics police in Colombia and Peru”, says Bjornehed.
Medellin cartel drug lord Pablo Escobar used these techniques in Colombia. What is worst still, is that in 1993, Pablo Escobar even hired the services of National Liberation Army (NLA) to construct car bombs as no one in his cartel had the knowledge to make car bombs!
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (US-DEA) defines narco-terrorism as, “maybe characterised by the participation of groups or associated individuals in taxing, providing security for, or otherwise aiding or abetting drug trafficking endeavours in an effort to further, or fund terrorist activities”.
Bjornehed argues that the term narco-terrorism implies more than organisations involved in both drug trade and terrorism, it also signals a cooperative link between organised crime and terrorism. Terror organisations require type of goods and services, such as weapons, fake passports, ways of money laundering and other illegal means. These kinds of goods and services can be accessed by trading or even sharing resources between organisations.
Although an important concept for counter measure efforts is still only a part of the threat image presented by the threats of narcotics and terrorism and the entirety of the security threats cannot be eliminated if the main focus is placed on the parts where they converge.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran together are the world’s leading narcotics suppliers of opium, heroin. The drug production in Afghanistan had seen a downturn due to a ban imposed by the Taliban in 2000 and the military action against Afghanistan in 2001. Although the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was stationed in Afghanistan it had no mandate outside of Kabul, it was mandated to only protect the civilian reconstruction projects.
However, now with the international community freezing foreign exchange reserves of Afghanistan, sources indicate that the production of illicit opium, heroin might well see a substantial increase with the Taliban turning a blind eye as it needs much needed finances to survive. This has led to an increase in prices of Afghan opium drastically.
But even before the Taliban made a comeback in August this year, the opium cultivation in Afghanistan had seen a substantial increase. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its 2019 report on opium cultivation in Afghanistan had forecasted an 34% rise in area under cultivation to 2,24,000 hectares. In 2019, 1,63,000 hectares of land was under opium cultivation. Out of the 34 districts of Afghanistan, opium was being cultivated in 22 districts, as against 13 districts in 2019. South Afghanistan accounts for 71% of total opium production in Afghanistan. Whereas, the potential opium cultivation in 2020 was estimated at 6,300 tonnes.
Ever since the Taliban recaptured Kabul earlier this year, it has been difficult for the international agencies to map the area under opium cultivation in Afghanistan due to restrictions imposed by the Taliban. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic also, researchers are now trying to find out new ways to collect data.
Multiple factors drive opium, poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, such as political instability, scarce employment opportunity, lack of quality education and limited access to markets.
Almost 80% of the world’s production of Opiates originates from the two main production areas namely – Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle. Afghanistan is the largest producer of illicit opium and heroin in the world. Afghanistan ranks only second to Peru, where over 3% of the arable land is cultivated with Coca.
Almost 98% of the world’s Cocaine supplies come from the three Andean countries – Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. Half of the global cultivation of Coca of about 2,20,000 hectares takes in Peru; while other two countries contribute about a quarter each.
Coca plants yield an income within 12 months of planting, they have a long life, they prevent soil erosion on hill slopes, they produce four crops a year, and requires little technological intervention and only requires manual labour for picking.
Much of the illicit opium, heroin produced in Afghanistan and the Golden Crescent finds its way to Europe through the Balkan route, Northern route and other routes.
Principle synthetic drugs manufactured clandestinely are – Amphetamine, Methamphetamine and popular – Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy), Methleaphinone. Another synthetic drug that is produced illicitly is Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). The annual turnover of the drug industry according to conservative 1996 figures was about US $400 billion.
The Balkan route links Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania through Italy and Greece. The Northern route links North Afghanistan with Central Asian countries like – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan – passing through the Caucasian mountains – through Kazakhstan into Russia, the Baltic states, towards Scandinavian countries and on to Europe.
As per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1373, “the close connection between international terrorism and Transnational Organised Crime (TOCs), illicit drugs, money laundering, illegal arms trafficking and illegal movement of nuclear, chemical, biological and other potentially deadly materials, emphasises the need for enhanced coordination of efforts at national, sub-regional and international levels, and to strengthen a global response to this serious challenge and threat to international security.
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