Hezbollah Lebanon, Drug Trafficking, and the Nuclear Agreement with Iran

Recently, American publications Politico and Washington Examiner published a report stating that drug enforcement officials in the Barack Obama administration initiated a project to investigate Hezbollah Lebanon's role in drug trafficking and its other activities; however, as nuclear negotiations with Iran progressed, the Cassandra project faced obstacles and was ultimately halted. This note examines the published reports in this regard; many groups referred to as 'non-state actors' in international relations require financial resources for their survival and to pursue political-military goals and power. These groups are neither political parties with broad public support nor official ministries with defined budgets and legal definitions. Their survival and activities depend on financial capabilities, which are secured through various means. Religious groups utilize donations from believers or religious taxes, while terrorist and armed groups meet their needs through attacks on economic and military centers or by engaging in smuggling and money laundering. In many similar cases observed in Central and South America, drug trafficking to wealthy consumer countries, including the United States, is a vital source of income for such groups. The issue of drug trafficking and organized crime is a significant security concern in North, Central, and South America. Larger and more organized groups in this region control a vast portion of similar activities, particularly in the Caribbean. Naturally, the activities of such gangs have direct and undeniable impacts on U.S. security. Similar activities have been observed regarding groups like the Taliban and other armed groups in Afghanistan, which, in addition to attacking military and banking centers, earn income from drug trafficking, especially to Europe via Iran and Turkey or Central Asian countries. In the summer of 2017, when comprehensive attacks against the group known as the Islamic State (ISIS) intensified, discoveries by Italian police indicated the passage of drugs from ISIS-controlled territories in North Africa to Europe, and the investigative team concluded that this group allowed the passage of drugs in exchange for money. Today, with the development of land, air, and sea communication networks and the enormous volume of international economic exchanges, the capacity of such groups to export the deadly commodity of drugs to any economically sensitive point in the world has increased. Within the framework of mafia activities, in many cases, this export or import is not limited to drugs and can include anything that is legal in one place and illegal in another. In Islamic countries, in addition to drugs, alcoholic beverages and any other contraband consumer goods are included in such lists. It may also be said that human trafficking and sexual slavery are considered layers of this activity on an international level. In pursuing the U.S. policy against drug trafficking, in 2008, evidence was found indicating that Hezbollah Lebanon, in addition to its role as a military-political organization in the Middle East, had developed into an active international syndicate. Subsequent investigations showed that Hezbollah Lebanon earns about one billion dollars annually through arms trafficking, money laundering, and drug transactions, with some of these activities occurring within the United States or other American countries. Recently, two American publications, Politico and Washington Examiner, have simultaneously addressed Hezbollah Lebanon's activities and examined them from various dimensions. These two publications refer to a report claiming that drug enforcement officials in the Barack Obama administration initiated a project named 'Project Cassandra' to track Hezbollah Lebanon's role in drug trafficking operations. The project was progressing well, and there were sufficient financial resources to investigate Hezbollah Lebanon's involvement in such illegal activities. These traffickers were not only one of the largest cocaine distribution gangs but were also involved in the production of chemical weapons used by Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, against his citizens. However, after a while, Obama administration officials created 'obstacles' to pursuing the Hezbollah Lebanon perpetrators and unexpectedly 'halted' the project. Former Obama administration officials told Politico that their decision to keep this investigation quiet was influenced by improving relations with Iran, halting its weapons program, and the release of four American prisoners in Iran. One former U.S. national security official stated to Politico, 'The world is more complicated than can be seen through a drug distribution lens. The CIA cannot govern every hut, but at the same time, this control cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration.' According to these officials, the approach to Hezbollah Lebanon was akin to the State Department having a cake, and each of the other three government agencies—intelligence community, Treasury Department, and Defense Department—demanding their share of it. In other words, the multiplicity of operational and decision-making authorities led to the project's halt. Two experts who played significant roles in this project were 'David Asher' and 'Jack Kelly.' David Asher was the founder of the project, and Jack Kelly was a veteran of the Defense Department. David Asher told Politico, 'The more the U.S. government became engaged in negotiations and discussions about the nuclear program, the more Project Cassandra remained dormant, and ultimately in January 2016, when President Obama announced the nuclear deal with Iran, the officials of Project Cassandra were assigned new missions, and thus the project was effectively halted.' Both had worked on Project Cassandra for several years and were well acquainted with Hezbollah Lebanon's methods in drug trafficking, but with the systematic change in Obama administration policy, these investigations were left in limbo. Jack Kelly is fully aware of how institutions involved in drug trafficking operate and infiltrate. He believes that there are hundreds of used car sales companies in the U.S. that are owned by Islamist extremists. These car dealerships are part of the distribution and sales network for drugs and money laundering. The revenue generated from drug sales by Hezbollah Lebanon is used to financially support the military wing of this organization, namely Islamic Jihad, and later David Asher testified in the U.S. Congress that this activity ranks among the largest material support for terrorist operations observed globally. According to David Asher, the best way to dismantle networks involved in such crimes—especially when politically sensitive like Hezbollah Lebanon—is to follow the money and their financial institutions. In the continuation of these investigations, a bank based in Beirut named Lebanese Canadian Bank was identified, which is rapidly expanding. This bank, recognized by the U.S. Treasury as one of the main money laundering institutions, has been involved in Hezbollah Lebanon's operations. Hezbollah Lebanon; everywhere and nowhere On February 12, 2008, following a bomb explosion, Imad Mughniyeh was killed. Mughniyeh was one of Hezbollah Lebanon's most important commanders, and the Washington Post reported in January 2015, citing a former CIA officer, that this organization, along with Mossad, was responsible for Mughniyeh's death. This significant blow to Hezbollah Lebanon occurred in front of the eyes of two witnesses. The first was the famous Lebanese businessman Adham Tabaja, and the second was a person named Saif al-Din, who plays a key liaison role between Hezbollah Lebanon and his brother Hashim and his cousin Hassan Nasrallah (the leader of Hezbollah Lebanon). On the other side of this issue is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is considered Hezbollah Lebanon's main supporter. To understand how the spider web connection exists in the trafficking network, it is essential to note that in the underlayers of this network, dozens of other individuals were identified who facilitated Hezbollah Lebanon's, Iran's, and their allies' operations in Iraq, Syria, Venezuela, and Russia. For instance, the investigative team reached an individual named Abdullah Saif al-Din, who was stationed in Tehran representing Hezbollah Lebanon. Drug distribution control teams in Colombia and Venezuela consider Saif al-Din to be connected to other money laundering networks, the most important of which is an individual named 'Ayman Said Jumaa' based in Beirut. Further investigations in Washington revealed that 'Ayman Said Jumaa' is linked to the Mexican trafficking network known as 'Los Zetas,' which transported several tons of cocaine to the United States and operated with about 300 used car sellers, generating an income of $200 million per month. This network then laundered the money obtained from drug distribution by purchasing and transporting used cars to the country of Benin on the west coast of Africa. As negotiations between the Obama administration and Iran regarding the nuclear agreement progressed, the Cassandra project faced obstacles. According to former officials of Project Cassandra, when Saif al-Din was identified as a communication hub in Tehran, the U.S. Department of Justice refrained from further pursuing. The Obama administration also created obstacles to the project's multiple efforts to indict Hezbollah Lebanon as an 'important international criminal organization' and reduced the powers of the special investigative group. In another instance, there is mention of an individual named Ali Fayaz, who was related to Saif al-Din and was involved in supplying weapons for Iraqi Shiite militants. Among the allegations against these militia groups is the use of roadside bombs against American forces present in Iraq. Politico's inquiries with former Obama administration officials for more detailed information on each of the cases went unanswered. Concurrently with the call for the withdrawal of some American forces from Iraq, Hezbollah Lebanon and Iran deployed thousands of military personnel and weapons in Iraq and Syria, and Iran and Hezbollah Lebanon began mobilizing forces for dispatch to Yemen. In the African network, not only drugs but also weapons, cars, diamonds, contraband commercial goods, and even human beings were exchanged as slaves. Hezbollah Lebanon and the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards have also shifted their focus towards China and other new markets. Politico concludes that despite extensive investigations conducted regarding many of these cases, ultimately, when initial contacts between the Obama administration and the Islamic Republic of Iran approached desired results for reaching an agreement on Iran's nuclear program, the pursuit of Project Cassandra lost its significance. Even among White House officials and Drug Enforcement Administration officials, there were disagreements and doubts regarding the information obtained. At one point, daily reports from the Drug Enforcement Administration did not reach President Obama as security threats of the day. While in 2014, one year before the nuclear agreement with Iran, the Cassandra group met with Attorney General Eric Holder and provided detailed information about Hezbollah Lebanon. In that meeting, Eric Holder expressed interest in providing a complete report on the subject to President Obama and his national security team; that is, the team that was simultaneously working with the President on drafting the strategy for the nuclear agreement with Iran. The Cassandra task force welcomed the opportunity that had arisen and was eager to present a report in a meeting with President Obama, which was to be held at the Special Operations Command center in Tampa, Florida. This possibility strengthened that the Hezbollah Lebanon case could be examined as a case subject to the penalties provided in U.S. federal laws for such crimes. Jack Kelly and David Asher told the Department of Justice that many of the transactions carried out fall under such laws and most of them were conducted through the 'Lebanese Canadian Bank.' Some individuals who have worked on Project Cassandra believe that the main reason for the project's halt was the nuclear agreement with Iran and that President Obama's foreign policy priority at that time was to finalize the nuclear agreement with Iran.