Columnist Richard Fein: Terrorists, gangs feed off drug affliction

Richard Fein

Richard Fein

By RICHARD FEIN

Published: 08-25-2024 11:31 AM

This column is about the trafficking of illicit drugs, how they corrupt societies and get people killed. Drugs include those whose origin is natural (e.g opiates), chemical mixes (e.g fentanyl) and combinations of both. Globally, the annual revenue for the traffickers of illicit drugs is estimated to be $650 billion. The beneficiaries are terrorists, criminal gangs and autocratic regimes.

How do terrorists benefit from drugs?

Terrorism has been defined as the unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Some terrorist groups want to destroy another country, while others want to impose their religion on a targeted territory (e.g. ISIS in the Levant) or achieve independence for their ethnic group (e.g. Polisario from Morocco).

One of the world’s most powerful terrorist organizations is Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy army based in Lebanon. Its declared goal is to destroy the State of Israel. For Hezbollah drug trafficking is a source of revenue to fund its operations. According to the Washington Institute: “... Hezbollah has significantly expanded and institutionalized its narcotics logistics and money laundering enterprises, to the point where narcotics proceeds are a major funding stream.”

Buying and manufacturing weapons is one use of the drug money. The money is also used to bribe government officials, the police and community leaders so that they will not interfere with either the drug trade or terrorist activities. Building a popular base among the general population is a significant asset. This has two aspects. First Hezbollah has established social welfare programs that in most countries are funded by the government. Second, the production and transporting of the drugs creates employment.

The extent of Hezbollah’s appeal to the population in Lebanon depends on sectarian groupings. According to Foreign Affairs magazine about 85% of Lebanese Shiites put ” quite a lot” or a “great deal” of trust in them. However among Sunnis, Christians and Druze the support is 10 percent or less.

There is an additional benefit to terrorist groups like Hezbollah, namely inflicting pain on their enemies. This is done by facilitating the growth of drug users among the enemy’s population. To pay for the drugs users will commit crimes, burden the health care system and perhaps, acquire weapons for local terrorists. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz “drug smuggling into Israel is at an all time high … Apart from clear economic gains { for Hezbollah}... other objectives are to recruit agents in Israel and to flood it with drugs in order to corrupt society in general and members of the police force and the military in particular.”

Nation states also can be drug dealers. Iran, is an example. It has one f the highest rates of drug addition in the world, according to the Brookings Institute. Therefore, Iran attempts to interdict the drug flow from Afghanistan. However, drugs seized are then smuggled into Saudi Arabia to addict the population there.

Drug trafficking gangs share some characteristics with terrorist organizations. However the gangs are mostly interested in making money. They terrorize to protect their lucrative business, not to destroy a foreign country or seek national independence. They seek influence with government officials, police and judges not for political purposes per se but as a necessary function of protecting their business.

Let’s look at the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and most powerful drug trafficking groups. Although drug trafficking is its core business enterprise, the group also engages in extortion, migrant smuggling, oil and mineral theft, prostitution, and the weapons trade. Sinaloa has systematically sought to build political capital with businesses, social influencers such as priests, politicians, armed forces, government officials and institutions, and local populations. It has considerable influence in the Mexican government and public institutions with strongholds in nearly half of Mexico’s states. Its methods are not restricted to intimidation like murder. It can ingratiate itself with many people by providing employment or services to local businesses and people, such as keeping away government tax collectors and inspectors.

Mexican authorities have been waging a deadly battle against drug cartels for nearly two decades, but with limited success. Thousands of Mexicans, including politicians, students, and journalists, are killed in the conflict every year. The country has seen more than 431,000 homicides since 2006, when the government declared war on the large drug dealing organizations.

The drug trade is an important issue for Americans. About 107,000 Americans died last year from overdosing on drugs. According to the 2022 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 27.2 million Americans age 12 or older reported battling a drug use disorder. Drug use is a worldwide problem but that does not absolve us from the fact that our country is a major importer of illicit drugs. Those drugs destroy American lives while benefiting some of the worst people in the world.

Richard Fein holds a master of arts degree in political science and an MBA in economics. He can be reached at columnist@gazettenet.com.