US Drug Arrests Link Trafficking To Terrorism
By VOA
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has unveiled several indictments it says demonstrate a “growing nexus” between drug trafficking and terrorism.
The DEA and a U.S. attorney in New York City Tuesday announced the arrests of four people charged with involvement in deals to sell illegal drugs in order to buy weapons for Hezbollah and for the Taliban.
Two people were arrested Monday in Bucharest, Romania, where they are awaiting extradition to the United States. Two others were detained in the Republic of the Maldives and have been transported to the United States.
The nationalities of the suspects were not specified.
One of the detainees is charged with arranging the importation of heroin into the United States in hopes of financing weapons purchases for Hezbollah. Two others are accused of involvement with the same conspiracy, arranging for the purchase of military-grade weaponry on behalf of Hezbollah.
The fourth detainee is accused of selling heroin to a DEA confidential source and arranging for the sale of six AK-47 assault rifles and an additional amount of heroin to the same source, who claimed to represent the Taliban.
