The Washington Free Beacon, reported citing informed sources that Hezbollah, following a reduction in support from the Iranian regime, has turned to drug trafficking in Venezuela to finance itself and has expanded its presence in the country.
The outlet wrote, citing informed sources, that following the failures of the Iranian regime and its proxy groups, Hezbollah forces have increasingly traveled to Venezuela and are relying on drug trafficking for revenue more than ever before.
Marshall Billingslea, the former U.S. Treasury Department assistant secretary for terrorist financing, said in October during a hearing of the “International Narcotics Control Committee” in the U.S. Senate that more than 400 Hezbollah field commanders had been ordered to relocate to Latin America, specifically Venezuela. These commanders have joined approximately 11,000 Hezbollah-affiliated operatives who entered Venezuela between 2010 and 2019.
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According to the Washington Free Beacon, although this Iranian regime–backed group has benefited from the Venezuelan government’s hospitality for years, the growing focus on drug trafficking shows that Hezbollah is seeking to secure its financial resources outside the Iranian regime.
According to sources familiar with Hezbollah’s presence in Latin America, Iran used to provide more than 700 million dollars annually to Hezbollah, an amount that made up about 70% of the group’s annual budget, but it is now no longer able to adequately finance this proxy force.
Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, reported on Monday, December 21, that Lebanese Hezbollah officials in recent talks with commanders of the IRGC Quds Force demanded an increase in financial assistance from the Iranian regime to about two billion dollars per year. However, Tehran agreed only to pay close to one billion dollars to its main proxy group.
Matthew Leavitt, a former U.S. Treasury Department analyst on terrorist financing and a current senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the Washington Free Beacon that because of the 12-day war, the Trump administration’s sanctions snapback, and energy and water crises that have persisted in Iran for months, the Iranian regime “is reportedly unable to foot the bill for Hezbollah’s reconstruction efforts as it did after Hezbollah’s 2006 war with Israel.”
According to him, Hezbollah has responded to this situation by increasingly relying on the drug trade.
The main focus of Hezbollah’s activity in this field is “black cocaine,” a substance molded into coal-like bricks to prevent detection by security forces.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, revenue from the sale of these drugs finances Hezbollah’s global terrorist operations, while the Venezuelan government also receives a share of the proceeds, helping sustain its own survival.
An estimate by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2016 shows that Hezbollah moves up to 400 million dollars’ worth of cocaine annually through criminal networks in Latin America. According to a report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, this figure has likely increased since the war with Israel.
William Barr, the former attorney general of the United States, also referred to Hezbollah’s role in drug trafficking during a podcast interview on Friday.
Barr added that Venezuela is a strategic enemy and a threat to the United States. He said the country serves as a base for Hezbollah, supports the group, and plays a role in various dealings, from money laundering to other arrangements, to facilitate Hezbollah’s drug trafficking into the United States.
While U.S. officials are speaking about Hezbollah’s role in drug trafficking in Venezuela, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Iranian regime, has also reacted to the recent pressure campaign by the Trump administration against Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela. In a public speech last week, Khamenei condemned the Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.
