Lebanese Man Allegedly Linked to Hizbullah and LCB Indicted in U.S. over Drug Crimes
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A Lebanese national who U.S. authorities say is the ringleader of a vast international drug smuggling ring with links to Hizbullah has been indicted on drug and money laundering charges after allegedly reaping more than $850 million in illicit profits.
The indictment was announced Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria against Ayman Joumaa, who is currently at large. It alleges he led a conspiracy that, among other activities, sold nearly 100 tons of Colombian cocaine to the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico between 2005 and 2007 that was ultimately smuggled into the United States. The conspiracy has run since at least 2004 and at times brought in as much as $200 million in a single month, according to court documents.
Earlier this year, the Treasury Department designated Joumaa, known as "Junior," a drug trafficker and said Hizbullah profited from his network.
Specifically, Treasury accused a former major Lebanese bank, the Lebanese Canadian Bank, of being complicit in Joumaa's money laundering and turning a blind eye to massive cash transactions. One of the members of Joumaa's network is a suspected Hizbullah supporter, and bank managers had links to Hizbullah officials, according to the Treasury Department's findings.
The criminal indictment itself makes no mention of links between Joumaa, 47, and Hizbullah.
The court documents show that Joumaa's network has played a major role in the global drug trade for years, helping Colombian producers get their product into the hands of cartels in Central America and Mexico, and from there into the U.S.
"Money fuels the drug trade, and Mr. Joumaa is alleged to be at the center of it all — working with those producing the vast majority of the world's cocaine to get their drugs safely into the hands of Mexican cartels," said Neil MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, whose office is prosecuting the case. "Organized crime networks know no borders, and neither can U.S. law enforcement."
The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation.
The Lebanese Canadian Bank was sold to an affiliate of France's Societe Generale in March to restore confidence after those accusations triggered concerns in Lebanon that the U.S. would begin targeting Lebanon's banking sector as a way to exert pressure against Hizbullah.
Lebanon is a major financial hub for the Middle East and its banks, like those in Switzerland, have a reputation for secrecy.
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of at least $850 million, the amount that Joumaa allegedly obtained over the course of the conspiracy, according to the grand jury.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for MacBride's office, said Tuesday that Joumaa is at large. Law enforcement officials believe he is Lebanon; it is unclear whether U.S. officials would be able to obtain his extradition.
It is the second time in recent months that federal prosecutors in Alexandria have announced charges against major international drug trafficking rings.
In July, authorities announced they had taken down a major drug ring that was smuggling drugs from Ghana through Dulles International Airport near Washington. Most of those charged in that ring, including the ringleader, were eventually extradited to the U.S. and are facing trial.
For the full article check the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/world/middleeast/beirut-bank-seen-as-a-hub-of-hezbollahs-financing.html?_r=1&hp
14 December 2011, 09:19
322
The United States should deport every Shia living on its territories, plain and simple. These people should go to Iran or Syria where they will enjoy freedom of speech, a thriving economy, and a civilized culture.
14 December 2011, 14:32
215
So, having lived in the states for the last 27 years, with my kids being born here, you would want my government to deport me to Iran, to whom I have no relation or allegiance, just to satisfy your blind racism against Shia. Maybe they can use you to help identify Shias in the US, since IDs here do not identify my religion, or anyone else's, for that matter. How will they be able to tell what my kids are since they look like any other Amercan, maybe they should intern all of us "kind of dark skinned people" , then make us admit our shia status.... Or maybe, just maybe you are a delutional creep who should crawl in a dark hole and keep his racist sectarian hateful thoughts to himself and away from public forums.
14 December 2011, 16:12
95
No one should insult or attack any religious sect because the act of a few. The Shia are patriotic and a treasure to any country they live in. I am strongly against Hezbollah but I cannot and will never be against the Shia.
14 December 2011, 17:14
24
@mowaten
i never attack shias, so please correct your comments. the above article is about a guy trading with drugs to finance hizbushaitan.
now if you consider all shias to be affiliated with hizbushaitan then you are wrong, as many of my friends are shia and they hate what these nazis are doing to our country.
14 December 2011, 18:08
122
@avenger: once again stereotypes and sectarianism trips you up. I am shia origin, I went to lyce'e LAIQUE francais where I did not know i was shia until I was 11 years old, my friends are from all Lebanese sects and religions, I have nothing to do with Hizbullah or Iran, I married a a christian, so did my two siters, my kids are of mixed American-German-Lebanese heritage. If I could vote in Lebanon I would never vote for Hizbollah or Amal..... I am just saying lumping people based on stereotypes is a losers' game. If we are to emerge as a country after 15 years of civil war, (which is why i left Lebanon) we need to work together regardless of what we we born as. When I see the debates on Naharnet where people insult each other based on their religious origin, it makes me think we never learned anything from 15 years of war or from years of Syrian and Israeli occupations and we do not deserve our wonderful country. That is a sad reflection of the state of affairs in our country.
14 December 2011, 19:51
113
Let's be honest. Most Shia support Hezbollah.
However, I LOVE UQAB SAQR
14 December 2011, 20:17
131
I do not support Hizbollah or Iran, what is most telling about the debate on this site, is that Naharnet consistently publishes the insults of sectarian trolls, while suppressing my response which was non-sectarian, and calling for less stereotyping.
naharnet is thus in the business of promoting hate and disunity, rather than upholding its duty as a means of educating the public.
What a shame for a newspaper, and a country.
14 December 2011, 22:40
10
at Basil, I agree a 100% with you and I know many people in the same boat.
Lol Libnani, I love Ugab Saqr also and I hope he'llb e a leading Shia figure.
15 December 2011, 01:50
01
basil, you are the exception rather than the norm. You cant deny this. By the way, does the shia religion allow for women to marry christian men.? Im asking out of curiosity. If a shia women did this in lebanon she would have been killed by her family.
15 December 2011, 01:54
05
allouchi, and how exactly are the shia a treassure to lebanon? Or to any other non shiite country they live in?
15 December 2011, 02:02
04
Basil, you show your real side when you call your kids shiites. I thought you said their mother is christian, then why make them shiites? And you can write false comments all you like but we all know you would vote for either amal or hezballah had you lived in lebanon. Either that or for communists as the anti amal and anti hezballah shiites all but very few are leftists.
15 December 2011, 02:47
50
so many backward stone age wahhabis commenting today ...hehehe
