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Column 011711 Brewer

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Commingling of Crime & Terror in Latin America

By Jerry Brewer

Speculation by U.S. federal officials and some world

intelligence services reveals that the continuing massive
revenue generated by transnational narcotraffickers may
further overlap with terrorist involvement. Although it would
not be easy these days to define what terrorism has morphed
into when you see the heinous acts of torture, murder, and
beheadings in Mexico and Central America.

A correlation was actually made in July 2008 when a DEA

operations chief announced “terrorist organizations and drug
cartels often rely on the same money launderers.” Of course
traditional terror organizations have been proven to be
involved in a variety of transnational crimes, whereas the DEA
revealed that almost half of ”identified” foreign terrorist
organizations were linked to the international drug trade.

One notable terrorist event, the 2004 coordinated train

bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people, was “partially
bankrolled by hashish sales.” The official investigation by the
Spanish Judiciary determined the attacks were directed by an
al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell — indicating the Basque
separatist organization ETA was responsible for the bombings.

Later, the Spanish Judiciary stated a loose group of Moroccan,

Syrian, and Algerian Muslims were involved. Although an al-
Qaeda claim was made the day of the bombings, no evidence
was found of al-Qaeda involvement.

As we have clearly seen in Mexico and Central America,

narcotraffickers as transnational insurgents are evolving and
adapting to countermeasures against them like traditional
terrorists. Some of the similarities with terrorists include the
manner in which money is moved, stored, and laundered, and
the manner in which it is raised.

Also in 2008, a two year investigation by Colombian and U.S.

authorities resulted in the arrest of 36 individuals on money
laundering and drug charges. And according to news reports,
“this network — comprised of Lebanese expatriates — was
more than a traditional criminal syndicate, and was shipping a
portion of its profits back to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

The southwestern hemisphere has generally been immune

from Middle Eastern terrorism and similar terror ideologies.
However, the Tri-Border area (TBA) that is shared by
Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay is described as a festering
nest of lawlessness and other sinister activities.

There have been no attacks directly linked to the TBA over the
last decade, although elements of Hezbollah Shiite groups
have been very active in “support-oriented,” but low profile,
activities.

A question mark remains as to whether these groups have

assimilated with Wahhabi-oriented Sunni fundamentalists.
There is a significant Middle Eastern population within the
TBA.

Terror has indeed increased throughout Latin America — this

terror from political, ethnic-indigenous, military, and
paramilitary guerrillas in Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico,
Nicaragua, and other South American countries. Many of
these transnational organized criminals have been recruited
and trained in Mexico and neighboring countries by Los Zetas.

The inhumanity and turmoil process has been a slow,

methodical, and organized global insurgency of revolutionary
ideology. Much of this is seen as terroristic behavior overlap.
This overlap shows fragmented elements and similar style and
behavior of diverse organized criminals — from terrorists and
other transnational criminals.

The TBA, with its significant Middle Eastern population, had

previously shown significant rises in human trafficking,
prostitution and related human slavery, as well as narcotics
trafficking. This is all now prevalent throughout Central
America, along with a long list of terror-related victimization.

A big problem and much confusion throughout Central

America has been in coordinated interdiction strategies and
priorities, coupled with a lack of ready forces and the
necessary resources to effectively combat the insurgents. The
porous borders, especially in Guatemala with Mexico, have
been a nightmare.

South America in particular must maintain a key eye on the

TBA to ensure that there is not a proactive birth of Islamic
fundamentalism. Leftist regimes in South America that
routinely reject U.S. antinarcotics and counter-guerrilla
assistance, while threatening neighbor nations for allowing the
U.S. use of land bases for effective tactical and strategic
staging for counter-criminal operations, must clearly state and
demonstrate their intentions to safeguard the region.

Any harboring of any of these criminal elements or facilitating

their movements must be met solidly by Latin American and
U.S. officials to halt additional assimilation with the
narcotraffickers that are controlling the ever-increasing wealth.

The similarities of terrorism and organized crime are simply

about threat at a minimum. These threats, via attacks and
murder with impunity, join all other forms of violent and
repressive crimes against humanity such as human trafficking.

All of this adds up to a monumental problem of continued

victimization, regardless of the terrorism definition or politically
correct title. It is all just out-and-out terrorism, and must be
aggressively attacked in each nation in its path with a strong
and unified effort of neighboring nation support.

——————————
Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International
Associates, a global threat mitigation firm headquartered
in northern Virginia. His website is located at www.cjiausa.org.
TWITTER: cjiausa