Police smash huge Hizbollah cocaine ring 'raising funds for war in Syria'

[Valin]

The Telegraph UK:

DEA says Iran-backed group forged links to ruthless Colombian cartel set up by Pablo Escobar

Colin Freeman

02 Feb 2016

 

Police have smashed a cell of Hizbollah agents accused of trafficking cocaine for one of the world's most ruthless drug cartels to fund the militant group's war in Syria.

 

The agents, arrested in France, allegedly masterminded a massive global drug ring which raised millions of dollars to arm Hizbollah gunmen fighting for Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in Syria.

 

According to America's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), they worked directly with Colombian cocaine cartels, including a feared debt collection outfit set up by the Pablo Escobar, the late drug lord portrayed in last year's hit Netflix TV series "Narcos".

 

Two years ago, one of the outfit’s sicarios, or hitmen, was arrested in Spain on suspicion of having ordered up to 400 murders worldwide.

 

The Hizbollah agents detained by French police include alleged leaders of the group's European cell, including 45-year-old businessman Mohamad Noureddine.

 

The DEA, which has classified him as a “specially-designated global terrorist”, accuses him of being a Lebanese money launderer for Hizbollah's financial arm.

 

(Snip)