Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Infiltration of Terrorist Organizations Into the Pharmaceutical Industry: Hezbollah as a Case Study

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 36; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1057610x.2013.813244

1521-0731

Boaz Ganor, Miri Halperin Wernli,

Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts

AbstractCriminal syndicates and terrorist organizations are inherently different, one motivated by profit and the other by political goals. Yet their difference enables them to cooperate for their mutual benefit. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the drug trade; from harvesting and trafficking in illegal substances, it has been an easy transition to counterfeiting and disseminating medications. Hezbollah, in particular, has become involved in the production, smuggling and distribution of counterfeit medications in North America, Africa and the Middle East as a means of raising immense sums of money to finance its terrorist activities. Hezbollah's infiltration into the pharmaceuticals industry illustrates the danger posed by the marriage of terrorism and crime, which arises both from enhanced resources for terrorism, and from the corruption of a legitimate and necessary industry. Understanding the nature and extent of this danger is the first step in preparing to meet it. NotesFor instance, Italian authorities discovered a clandestine facility for the production of counterfeit medication owned by Camorra, an organized crime group based in Naples. The Camorra has been shown to have ties to several Islamic terrorist groups. See Graham Satchwell, "A Sick Business: Counterfeit Medicines and Organized Crime," The Stockholm Network (2004). Available at http://counterfeiting.unicri.it/docs/Sickbusiness%5B1%5D.pdf (accessed 4 January 2013)."Legislative Basis for the INSCR," US Department of State. Available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/30187.pdf (accessed 4 January 2013)."A Global Overview of Narcotics-Funded Terrorist and Other Extremist Groups," Library of Congress, May 2010. Available at http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/NarcsFundedTerrs_Extrems.pdf (accessed 8 January 2013).According to the US State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, FARC finances its activities by selling some $300 million worth of drugs annually."Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of South America," Library of Congress, July, 2003. Available at http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/TerrOrgCrime_TBA.pdf (accessed 8 January 2013)."Abu Sayyaf Group," The McKenzie Institute. Available at http://www.mackenzieinstitute.com/profiles/Abu20Sayyaf.html (accessed 13 February 2013); "Jane's Intelligence Review Says LTTE Controls a Portion of Montreal's USD 1b Drug Trade," Ministry of Defence and Urban Development of Sri Lanka, 30 December 2010. Available at http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070823_05 (accessed 2 February 2013); "Terrorist Organization Profile: Islamic Movement in Uzbekistan," National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Available at http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4075 (accessed 5 March 2013).According to Spanish sources, the 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid that killed 200 people and injured 1,400 others was funded primarily by the sale of hashish and Ecstasy.Grant Wardlaw, "Linkages Between the Illegal Drugs Traffic and Terrorism," Conflict Quarterly (1988). Available at journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/download/14808/15877 (accessed 19 February 2013)."Colombian Tied to Drug Empire is Found Guilty," New York Times, 20 May 1988. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/20/us/colombian-tied-to-drug-empire-is-found-guilty.html (accessed 22 December 2012).During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong used drugs in just this way to "infect" US soldiers. See "Germ Warfare/Biological Weapons," Clarke Johnson, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2001. Available at http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/7_1Germ%20Warfare%20Biological%20Weapons.htm (accessed 20 February 2013).At the trial of an American citizen from Lebanon who was caught trying to sell drugs in the United States, representatives of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit of the FBI claimed that Arab terrorist organizations were smuggling drugs into the United States in order to finance the purchase of American weapons. "It's a simple barter deal, [the terrorist organizations] have drugs and the clients here have weapons … so they trade them." Another example is the activity of Arab "businessman" Monzer Al-Kassar, described as "a friend to the leaders of the PLO" who began his "professional" career brokering deals between drug traders and weapons manufacturers. Al-Kassar imported drugs from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to Europe and supplied the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) with weapons.Boaz Ganor, "Trends in Modern International Terrorism" in To Protect and To Serve: Policing in an Age of Terrorism, eds. David Weisburd, Thomas Feucht, Idit Hakimi, Lois Mock and Simon Perry (Springer, 2010), pp. 11–42.Ibid.Chris Zambelis, "Mystery Surrounds Alleged Hezbollah Links to Drug Arrests in Curacao," Terrorism Monitor 7(18) (2009), pp. 9–12."Narco-Terror: The World Wide Connection between Drugs and Terror," Rand Beers, Testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information, 13 March 2002. Available at http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=196&wit_id=331 (accessed 6 January 2013).United States of America v. Lebanese Canadian Bank et. al. United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Available at http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1861.pdf (accessed 28 February 2013)."Iran, Hezbollah, and the Threat to the Homeland," United States House of Representatives, 21 March 2012.Matthew Levitt, "Hezbollah: Financing Terror through Criminal Enterprise" (2005). Available at http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/hezbollah-testimony-05252005.pdf (accessed 26 February 2013).Wyatt Yankus, "Counterfeit Drugs: Coming to a Pharmacy Near You," The American Council on Science and Health, August 2006, p. 2. Available at http://www.acsh.org/publications/counterfeit-drugs-coming-to-a-pharmacy-near-you-2/ (accessed 8 January 2013).Wyatt Yankus, "Counterfeit Drugs: Coming to a Pharmacy Near You," The American Council on Science and Health, February 2009. Available at http://www.acsh.org/publications/counterfeit-drugs-coming-to-a-pharmacy-near-you-updated-version/ (accessed 8 January 2013).Testimony of John P. Clark, Chief Security Officer, Pfizer Inc., and Vice President, Global Security, before the House Judiciary Committee, 16 November 2011, p. 6."In a Secret Fatwa … Khamenai Allows Hizbullah to Distribute Drugs and to Launder Money," Al-Seyassa, 24 November 2011 (in Arabic).Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 13 January 2013).Hanin Ghaddar, "The Demons Besieging Lebanon: Iran's Tighter Grip," The Wilson Center, December 2012. Available at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/demons_besieging_lebanon_irans_tighter_grip_0.pdf (accessed 17 January 2013); "IRGC-Hezbollah Captagon Ring Compromised by War Over Profits," ME Transparent, 27 April 2012. Available at http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?article18340 (accessed 17 January 2013)."Four Million Capsules of Captagon Seized in Largest Drug Operation," Gulf News, 15 December 2009. Available at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Four+million+capsules+of+captagon+seized+in+largest+drug+operation.-a0214580680 (accessed 21 January 2013).Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898; "IRGC-Hezbollah Captagon Ring Compromised by War Over Profits," ME Transparent, 7 April 2012. Available at http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?article18340 (accessed 13 January 2013).Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 13 January 2013)."Cannabis Farmers Ready to Reap Big Yield," The Daily Star, 11 September 2012. Available at http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Sep-11/187457-cannabis-farmers-ready-to-reap-big-yield.ashx#axzz2LWnGGZNR (accessed 3 February 2013); "IRGC-Hezbollah Captagon Ring Compromised by War Over Profits," ME Transparent, 27 April 2012. Available at http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?article18340 (accessed 3 February 2013).For example, Hezbollah plants in Choueifat made some 100,000 Counterfeit Captagon pills per day. A similar number of counterfeit pills were made at Hezbollah installations in Baalbek; a factory near Brital was also found to be making some one million counterfeit Captagon pills a day. See Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 13 January 2013).Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 13 January 2013).Ibid.Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 13 January 2013).Ibid."Agents Seize 1.8m Captagon Pills Near Border," The Jordan Times, 24 December 2012. Available at http://jordantimes.com/agents-seize-18m-captagon-pills-near-border (accessed 24 February 2013)."Our Correspondent in Homs: About 180.000 Captagon Pills have been Found, Smuggled from Lebanon, in Talkalakh," The Breaking News Network, 20 December 2012. Available at http://3agelnetwork.com/en/breakingnews/3497.html?m=0 (accessed 19 February 2013).Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898; "IRGC-Hezbollah Captagon Ring Compromised by War Over Profits," ME Transparent, 27 April 2012. Available at http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?article18340Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 13 January 2013).Ibid.; "IRGC-Hezbollah Captagon Ring Compromised by War Over Profits," ME Transparent, 27 April 2012. Available at http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?article18340 (accessed 28 December 2013)."Bad Medicine in an Ailing Country," Al Akhbar, 12 November 2012. Available at http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/bad-medicine-ailing-country (accessed 9 January 2013)."376 New Counterfeit Medications Seized," LBC International, 29 November 2012. Available at http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/62523/press-digest-for-thursday-november-29–2012 (accessed 3 January 2013); Al-Mustaqbal, 29 November 2012. Available at http://www.almustaqbal.com/storiesv4.aspx?Storyid=549073 (accessed 3 January 2013)."Brother of Hezbollah Minister Charged in Drugs Scandal," The Daily Star Lebanon, 8 December 2012. Available at http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Dec-08/197767-hezbollah-ministers-brother-charged-in-illegal-meds-scandal.ashx#ixzz2FyzdthZv (accessed 3 January 2013)."Hezbollah Official Demands Media Blackout on Drug Scandal," YaLibnan, 15 November 2012. Available at http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/11/15/hezbollah-official-demands-media-blackout-on-drug-scandal/ (accessed 22 December 2013).Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, 17 November 2012. Available at http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/5129/ (accessed 29 December 2013).Some of these companies appeared on the forged documents. See Ordre des Pharmaciens du Liban. Available at http://opl.org.lb/uploadedFiles/circulaires/1351766765-taamim12.pdf (accessed 6 January 2013); "Lebanon Cracks Down on Drug Firms," The Daily Star Lebanon, 15 November 2012. Available at http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Nov-15/195090-lebanon-cracks-down-on-drug-firms.ashx#axzz2Ih2jNDZi (accessed 6 January 2013)."Brother of Hezbollah Official Suspected in Lebanon Drug Scandal," Al Arabiya News, 10 November 2012. Available at http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/10/248794.html (accessed 29 December 2012)."Bad Medicine in an Ailing Country," Al Akhbar, 12 November 2012. Available at http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/bad-medicine-ailing-country (accessed 15 December 2012)."State Prosecutor Denies Receiving File on Illegal Import of Medications," Naharnet, 10 November 2012. Available at http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/60171 (accessed 2 January 2013).Al-Mustaqbal, 29 November 2012. Available at http://www.almustaqbal.com/storiesv4.aspx?Storyid=549073 (accessed 5 February 2013).Sada, Beirut, 6 January 2013. Available at http://www.echobeirut.com/news.php?action=show&id=11470 (accessed 21 January 2013); Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, 17 November 2012. Available at http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/5129 (accessed 21 January 2013)."Illegally Imported Drugs Confiscated," The Daily Star Lebanon, 13 November 2012. Available at http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Nov-13/194838-illegally-imported-drugs-confiscated.ashx#axzz2Ih2jNDZi (accessed 3 January 2013)."Hezbollah, Radical but Rational," STRATFOR Global Intelligence, 12 August 2010. Available at http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100811_hezbollah_radical_rational (accessed 19 December 2012); "Iran's Meth Empire," Front Page Mag, 27 April 2012. Available at http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/iran%E2%80%99s-meth-empire/ (accessed 4 January 2013); "Drug Money for Hezbollah?" CBS News, 11 February 2009. Available at http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-224_162-520457.html (accessed 3 January 2013).Testimony of John P. Clark, Chief Security Officer, Pfizer Inc and Vice President, Global Security Before the House Judiciary Committee, 16 November 2011, p. 6."Michigan from 1990 to Present," Mackinac Center, 3 December 2008. Available at http://www.mackinac.org/10041#_ftn102 (accessed 15 January 2013); "For Hezbollah: Cheap Smokes, Fake Viagra," The Vancouver Sun, 21 September 2007. Available at http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=70dfb2cd-83ff-4f0f-b6db-f49f8c8b0228 (accessed 19 December 2012); Frederic Dorin, "Jihad and American Medicine: Thinking Like a Terrorist to Anticipate Attacks," Praeger Security International (2008), p. 26; David Johnson, Section Chief, Criminal Investigative Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Statement Before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Washington, DC, 5 November 2009. Available at http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/combating-organized-retail-crime-the-role-of-federal-law-enforcement (accessed 28 January 2013).Wyatt Yankus, "Counterfeit Drugs: Coming to a Pharmacy Near You," The American Council on Science and Health, August 2006, p. 9. Available at http://www.acsh.org/publications/counterfeit-drugs-coming-to-a-pharmacy-near-you-2/ (accessed 8 January 2013)."Hizballah Raises Funds, Builds Network Inside US," Jihad Watch, 2006. Available at http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/08/hizballah-raises-funds-builds-network-inside-us.html (accessed 12 February 2013).United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Criminal Case No. 03-80406, Hon. Gerald E. Rosen, filed 29/3/06, p. 8.Ibid., p. 9.Ibid., p. 12.On 18 July 2002, on instructions from Imad Hammud, Imad Hamada traveled from Dearborn, Michigan to Atlanta, Georgia to purchase 15,000 counterfeit Viagra pills from Theodore Schenk. On 24 March 2003, Hussein Al-Musawi, Abd-Al-Hamid Sino, and Theodore Schenk purchased a shipment of 25,000 counterfeit Viagra pills in Florida, sending them to Michigan on 14 April 2003. Imad Hammud transferred 5,908 counterfeit Viagra pills from China to Michigan on 14 April 2003. On 16 May 2003, Imad Hammud sent some 5,000 counterfeit Viagra pills from China to Michigan. On 25 August 2003, Abd Al-Hamid Sino purchased 50,000 counterfeit Viagra pills in Montreal, Quebeq, Canada. On 4 September 2003, Theodore Schenk purchased some 700 counterfeit Viagra pills in North Miami Beach, Florida. (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Criminal Case No. 03-80406, Hon. Gerald E. Rosen, filed 29/3/06, pp. 32–33.)United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Criminal Case No. 03-80406, Hon. Gerald E. Rosen, filed 29/3/06, p. 14.The following evaded arrest: Imad Mohamad-Musbah Hammud, 37 of Lebanon, formerly of Dearborn; Hassan Ali Al-Mosawi, 49, of Lebanon; Hassan Hassan Nasser, 36, of Windsor, Ontario; Ali Ahmad Hammoud, 64, of Lebanon; Karim Hassan Abbas, 37, formerly of Dearborn; Hassan Mohamad Srour, 30, of Montreal, Quebec; Naji Hassan Alawie, 44, of Windsor, Ontario; and Abdel-Hamid Sino, 52, of Montreal, Quebec. See "Nineteen Charged with Racketeering to Support Terrorist Organization," PR Newswire. Available at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nineteen-charged-with-racketeering-to-support-terrorist-organization-70737752.html (accessed 10 February 2013).BORDERPOL is a not-for-profit international organization. Its primary mission is to actively promote border policies and programs that enhance human mobility while ensuring traveler safety and national security. BORDERPOL is a nonaligned international institution that works with likeminded national border administrations and associated law enforcement services and agencies worldwide. See http://www.borderpol.com/homepage/aboutus.html (accessed 12 February 2013).For example, counterfeit Viagra can be purchased in China for five cents and sold for $15.00."Nigeria: Counterfeit Meds Enforcement Training in Lagos," 30 April 2009. Available at http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09ABUJA746#para-90182–6 (accessed 22 December 2012).Al-Shara'a, 2 March 2012. Available at http://64.45.27.215/web/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=197898 (accessed 20 January 2013).Judith Miller, "Terrorism, Money and Drugs," Newsmax Magazine. Available at: http://w3.newsmax.com/a/jan11/terrorism/ (accessed 23 December 2012).Miri Halperin Wernli, Boaz Ganor, and Mollie Shields-Uehling, "Dangerous Liaisons," World Pharmaceutical Frontiers Magazine, March (2012), pp. 24–26.