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2025-05-20 Caribbean-Latin America

US seeks info on ''Hezbollah financial network'' in South America

[NAHARNET] The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program on Monday announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on ''Hezbollah financial networks in South America.''

''Hezbollah has maintained a presence in the Western Hemisphere since the 1980s, particularly in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina
...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita...
, Brazil, and Paraguay,'' RFJ said.

''The group is responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks in the Western Hemisphere, including the July 18, 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Society. Hezbollah was also implicated, along with Iran, in the 1992 attacks on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as the 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas flight 00901 in Col n, Panama,'' it added.

The statement claimed that ''in the TBA, Hezbollah members, supporters, and controllers are involved in large-scale revenue-generating schemes, including trade-based money laundering, narcotics trafficking, charcoal and oil smuggling, illicit diamond trade, bulk cash smuggling, smuggling of cigarettes and luxury goods, document forgery, and the counterfeiting of U.S. dollars.''

''They also generate revenue from commercial activities across Latin America, including construction, import/export trade, and real estate sales,'' it added.

Posted by Fred 2025-05-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [153 views ] Top
File under: Hezbollah

#1 Surprising announcement. Embassies in Asuncion and Buenos Aires were collecting information on tri-border in the 1980s. Lebanon served as trampoline as the Paraguay rep in Beirut was selling passports and travel documents to both Shiites and Sunnis. Since then it was established to the satisfaction of DEA who was running the narcotics show from Ciudad del Este. The tri-border remains untouchable because the governments of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina in effect lost control of the region long ago.

Posted by Albert McCoy9505 2025-05-20 07:52|| 2025-05-20 07:52|| Front Page Top

#2 Salt to taste:

DEA-trained agents work in Latin America and conspire with the cartels

DEA in Latin America: Dealing With Institutionalized Corruption

Posted by Skidmark 2025-05-20 10:05|| 2025-05-20 10:05|| Front Page Top

#3 /\ Panamanian dictator the late Tony Noriega was once a "friend" of the US Government.

Posted by Besoeker 2025-05-20 11:51|| 2025-05-20 11:51|| Front Page Top

#4 I may be confusing Noriega with some other ratbag dictator, but if I recall, the quote was "He may be a sumbitch, but he is *our* sumbitch". Right up until he wasn't.

Posted by SteveS 2025-05-20 12:04|| 2025-05-20 12:04|| Front Page Top

#5 /\ Exactly correct Steve.

Intelligence agencies enjoy some degree of success in small clandestine collection activities and missions. The kind of stuff which they were designed for. Larger scale military operations however, do not appear to be their forte. The Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, and Afghanistan could be offered as examples.

The transition from traditional collection to actual military operations is generally their downfall. Providing intelligence to other decision makers is seen as mundane. Becoming an 'operator' and shaping events is much sexier.

Posted by Besoeker 2025-05-20 12:14|| 2025-05-20 12:14|| Front Page Top

#6 A reminder of a parallel track of certain groups. Hawalah-long standing and often semi-immune from LE investigation to avoid "instantaneous" accusations of being Islamophobic, a serious woke crime second only to being a racist, and often conflated with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala_and_crime

Posted by NoMoreBS 2025-05-20 15:05|| 2025-05-20 15:05|| Front Page Top

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