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Hezbollah's cocaine Jihad
Faced with dwindling Iranian funding,
Shiite terror group partners with Mexican drug cartels; uses millions of dollars
in drug money to support weapon acquisition habit
Eldad Beck
MEXICO – Chiapas is
one of Mexico's most exotic federal districts. But the magical forests,
appealing Indian communities, colorful towns and intriguing archeological sites
– that serve as main tourist attractions – hide a political hell.
In the mid-1990s, a leftist resistance group which calls itself The Zapatista
Army of National Liberation (EZLN) made Chiapas its home. Its attempts to fight
the Mexican Army repeatedly failed, but the Zapatistas are still very active in
the district's rural areas. Chiapas is considered a dangerous place, where every
home has an arms arsenal of its own; and like many other places in Mexico, Chiapas' streets have become the battlefield where the government
and local drug lords wrestle for dominance.
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Chiapas, however, harbors an even more sinister secret: It is also a hub of
radical Islamist activity.
Catholic Mexico is in the midst of a crisis of faith. According to a local
businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, it is widely believed that within a
decade, Chiapas will be the first federal state in Mexico to turn its back on
the Church.
"The Muslim missionaries are very active there," he said. "It's hard to know
exactly how many people have converted to Islam over the past few years."
 EZLN march in Chiapas (Photo: AFP)
Official data suggests that Mexico is home to some 4,000 Muslims – a fraction
in a country whose population numbers 115 million. Theoretically, this is a
negligible number, but it is enough to cause concern in the United States – and
Israel should be concerned as well.
US intelligence indicates that Mexico is home to some 200,000 Syrian and Lebanese immigrants – most of them illegal – who were able to
cross the border via an extensive web of contacts with drug cartels, both in
Mexico and in other countries in South America.
These cartel contacts smuggle illegal immigrants – including individuals
affiliated with Iran, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups – into
Mexico, placing them a virtual stone's-throw away from the United States.
Western intelligence agencies have been able to gather ample evidence
suggesting that the drug cartels in Mexico – which are the de facto rulers of
the northern districts bordering the US – are in cahoots with Islamic terror
organizations, which are eager to execute attacks against American, Israeli, Jewish and western targets; but most of all, the Islamic terror groups are
eager to make money, so they can fund their nefarious aspirations.
In December 2011, the US authorities released an indictment filed against
Lebanese drug lord Ayman Juma, which exposed Hezbollah's involvement with the
Los Zetas drug cartel. According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Los Zetas is the most technologically
advanced and most dangerous cartel operating in Mexico.
Juma was indicted in absentia for smuggling 85 tons of cocaine into the US
and for laundering $850 million for Los Zetas. He was also accused of serving as
a go-between for the Mexican crime syndicate and the Shiite terror group.
According to US officials, for a modest 8%-14% commission, Juma's money
laundering process would take about a week. The operation involved bank accounts
in dozens of countries, making it virtually impossible to track the dirty
money.
 Hezbollah rally in Beirut (Photo:
Reuters)
According to the indictment, Hezbollah is using Juma's cartel connections to
minimize its dependency on Iranian funding. The international sanctions
crippling Tehran's economy have taken a serious bite out of the $200 million in
annual aid given to Hezbollah, but the latter's appetite for cash has only
grown. Los Zetas' Beirut-based money man has reportedly helped the Shiite terror
group meet its financial needs.
Iran denies any involvement in South America, but the US knows better. In
2010, a report commissioned by the House Committee on Intelligence found that
the ties between Hezbollah and the Mexican drug cartels, as well as the Iranian
link, were getting stronger.
The report found that Hezbollah was massively embroiled in drugs and money
laundering deals, as well as in arms trafficking in and out of Mexico.
Furthermore, US intelligence concluded that Hezbollah has established sleeper
cells, intelligence infrastructure and training bases in Mexico and other South
American countries. The Shiite group is also helping the drug lords build
smuggling tunnels under the US-Mexico border and satellite images show that they
are nearly identical to the maze of tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border.
Hezbollah is also training the cartels' operatives in the dubious art of
explosives, helping drug lords improve their bomb-making skills.
The committee found evidence that Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard
officials pick up fake passports in Venezuela – a close ally of Iran – prior to infiltrating the United States.
The US' concern about the smuggling tunnels increased exponentially in 2009,
when a Department of Homeland Security wiretap derived a recording of Professor
Abdallah Nafisi, a Kuwaiti clergyman and a known al-Qaeda recruiter, boasting about the ease by which nonconventional
warfare and weapons of mass destruction can be smuggled into the US, through the
Mexican drug tunnels.
 Iran's Revolutionary Guard (Archives:
EPA)
"Ten pounds of anthrax in a medium-size suitcase, carried by a Jihad warrior
through the tunnels can kill 300,000 Americans in one hour," he said. "It will
make 9/11 look like peanuts. There's no need for plans… Just one courageous man,
to spread this confetti on the White House lawn. Then we will really be able to
celebrate."
"Hezbollah, more than any other terror group, manages to utilize its
Mexican-based cells, which it has turned into instruments of capital and
terrorism, ready to be called upon once the moment serves its interests," a 2010
Department of Homeland Security report said.
American officials do not hesitate to publicly point the finger at Hezbollah.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that Hezbollah has "massive
presence in the triangle made up of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, and the
organization is constantly expanding its ties with the Mexican drug cartels."
Earlier this year, former DEA Chief of Operations Michael Braun told CBS News
that Hezbollah "are masters in creating close relationships with criminal
organizations around the world."
A recent book by Latin America expert Jon Perdue details the dangers the US
and its allies face as a result of the presence of radical Islamic terror groups
in South and Central America. According to Perdue, Iran's proxies have been
around long enough "to pose an actual threat" to the US should Israel mount a
unilateral strike on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.
But why are the local communities in Mexico so eager to answer radical
Islam's call? The answers to that vary.
First, most Middle Eastern migrates have been able to make a successful life
for themselves in Mexico. For example, Carlos Slim Helu – one of the richest men
in the world, with a personal fortune of $77 billion – is the son of Lebanese
immigrates. Such ties make for an easier landing for Hezbollah operatives in
Mexico over other places.
But mostly, Chiapas – like other places in Mexico – is plagued by poverty and
a civilian sense of deprivation. The district is home to the decedents of the
Mayans, who have been exploited by local governments dating back to the days of
the Spanish Conquistadors. They have revolted against their discrimination
repeatedly, but to no real success.
Against this bleak backdrop, a monotheistic revolution is taking place – at
least according to Muslim websites – as thousand of South Americans shed the
Catholic beliefs forced on their forefathers by the Spaniards hundreds of years
ago, in favor of Islam.
Ironically, missionary Islam arrived in Mexico from none other than Spain. In the mid 1990s, Muslins from the al-Murabitun order, or
"Almoravids," as they are known, were sent to Chiapas. The Almoravids strongly
oppose any use of violence or terror, but since the order is very secretive,
little is known about the true nature of its work.
Various Mexican reports suggest that the Almoravids are linked to neo-Nazi
groups and foster anti-Semitic ideology; and that they aspire to convert all of
Europe to Islam and enact the same style of Islam prevalent in the days of the
Prophet Muhammad.
Another organization spreading the word of the Prophet in Mexico in the
Islamic Cultural Center of Mexico, a Sunni organization set up about 15 years
ago. The center funds translation projects and major construction projects for
mosques and Muslim social centers.
No one knows who funds the work done by the Islamic Cultural Center of Mexico
or by the Almoravids.
"It's hard to know whether the recent Islamization here stems from deep
spiritual convictions or from opportunistic financial motives," a Mexican
academic, who has been tracking the phenomenon, said.
"It is likely due to the combination of both. Islam can easily be adapted to
the classic way of life of the native Mexican communities. It's enough to
present Islam as a religion that promotes social causes, one that is
anti-capitalist and tolerant of all races, to prey on the locals' sense of
discrimination and win their sympathies."
The bottom line may prove to be a bitter pill to swallow for the US: It is
very likely that in a few years, the US – much like Israel – will have to deal
with its own Hezbollah presence, right across the border.
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