Bogota - Colombian authorities have arrested three men with alleged links to the militant group Hezbollah as part of an international drug sting that has netted close to 100 suspects, the attorney general's office said.
Eighteen Colombians, nine of whom are wanted by the United States, were arrested during the worldwide investigation that began in July 2006, the attorney general's office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The three Middle Eastern suspects, who were of Lebanese and Jordanian descent, "co-ordinated the shipment of drugs to their countries of origin, and used front companies to bring the cash into Colombia," the statement said.
Continues Below ↓
Some of the cash was "was distributed in Middle Eastern countries for the supposed financing of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah," it added.
The three men, identified as Shekry Mahmud Harb, Ali Mohammed Abdul Rahim and Zacaria Hussein Harb, were captured on October 13 in Bogota, said a source in the attorney general's office.
The operation, called Titan, has already seen some 90 people arrested in various countries, authorities said.
The crime ring had operatives in Guatemala, Panama, Venezuela, the Middle East and Europe, bringing cash from illegal drug sales into international markets, authorities said.
Colombian police have confiscated some $740 000 (about R8,1-million), 360 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin, as well as two airplanes, a boat, and various vehicles and jewels, the attorney general's office said. - Sapa-AFP
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
