Project Cedar was a collaborative international law enforcement operation led by the

United States Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

(DEA) in partnership with European authorities. Launched in 2016, the initiative aimed to dismantle a sophisticated global

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

network associated with

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

’s Business Affairs Component (BAC), a unit known for managing the organization's financial activities. The investigation was part of the larger

Project Cassandra Project Cassandra was an overall effort led by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to undercut Hezbollah funding from illicit drug sources in South America. The effort had two other investigation running simultaneously: Projec ...

, which was an umbrella initiative encompassing about 20 operations targeting Hezbollah's global criminal support network. The investigation revealed that Hezbollah had developed extensive ties with South American drug cartels, including La Oficina de Envigado, which supplied

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

to markets in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the Colombia's

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel () was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major ...

. Notably,

Chekri Mahmoud Harb Chekri Mahmoud Harb, (born on August 25, 1961) is a Lebanese-Colombian national key figure in Hezbollah-linked drug trafficking and money laundering operations. Designated by U.S. authorities for his criminal activities, he operated under aliases ...

, also known as "Taliban," was a central figure in this network. Harb, a Lebanese-Colombian national, was involved in coordinating cocaine shipments from South America to the Middle East and Europe, collaborating with those cartels. His operations funneled significant drug proceeds to Hezbollah, aiding in financing the group's activities. Proceeds from these drug sales were funneled through trade-based money laundering schemes, such as the Black Market Peso Exchange. This illicit financial network supported Hezbollah’s operations, supplementing its funding beyond the traditional financial backing from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The operation exposed Hezbollah's involvement in transnational organized crime, highlighting the group’s reliance on illegal narcotics trafficking and financial fraud to sustain its political and military activities. Project Cedar underscored the integration of terrorism financing and global criminal enterprises, prompting calls for enhanced international cooperation to disrupt such networks.{{Cite news , date=2008 , title=Colombia Ties Drug Ring to Hezbollah , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/americas/22colombia.html , work=The New York Times

References

Obama administration controversies Hezbollah Hezbollah members Money laundering Drug Enforcement Administration Medellín Cartel traffickers Medellín Cartel

See also

References