Narcoterrorism

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Narcoterrorism, in its original context, is understood to refer to the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and

non-state actors
.

Description

War on Drugs
.

The term is being increasingly used for terrorist organizations that engage in drug trafficking activity to fund their operations and gain recruits and expertise. Such organizations include FARC, ELN, AUC in Colombia, PCP-SL in Peru, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

A 2013

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) "reported that 29 of the top 63 international drug syndicates, identified as such on the consolidated priority organization target (CPOT) list, were associated with terrorists."[7]

In 2000 the U.S. began funding, continued under the U.S.

FARC and the AUC
paramilitary forces. The U.S. government is funding large-scale drug eradication campaigns and supporting Colombian military operations, seeking the extradition of commanders.

Although

Saudi
individuals".

Critics of the

prohibition of drugs say that prohibition itself funds terrorism, due to it indirectly making the black market and criminal organizations responsible for all sale.[8]

Examples

Areas or countries that have active or historical narcoterrorism or narco-war include:

Narcoterrorism in Colombia

During the period from 1984–1993, Colombia was known as one of the countries to have suffered a number of terrorist attacks at the hands of narcotic traffickers. Belisario Betancourt, Virgilio Barco and César Gaviria were three Colombian presidents that constantly battled against the Medellín Cartel’s unrelenting war on the government, especially through its branch known as Los Extraditables led by Pablo Escobar Gaviria, Gustavo Gaviria and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha. A number of crimes by “Los Extraditables” were due to their constant battles against the government’s policies on extradition and their collaborations with the United States government who sought to bring the Colombian drug bosses to justice. These terrorist acts typically consisted of assassinations of political figures, kidnappings, and bombings. The wing of the cartel also known as Los Priscos reportedly also participated directly in these acts of terrorism at the behest of the Medellín Cartel’s top leaders.

History

Pablo Escobar was elected as a representative as an alternative congress delegate, but allegations from politicians, the newspaper “El Espectador” and the minister of justice declared him a drug trafficker and he was eventually dismissed from Congress on January 4, 1984.

On April 30, 1984, a

Rodrigo Lara Bonilla. On November 6, 1985 the 19th of April Movement (Marxist guerrillas) sieged the palace of Justice in order to hold all supreme magistrates hostage. The organized military reaction caused the building to burn resulting in the deaths of 91 people, 11 of which were judges. Although the M-19 denies being funded from outside sources, multiple sources say the Medellin Cartel funded them. Additionally, numerous bombs detonated across the country, the most memorable bomb being the one that brought down Avianca Flight 203
during its flight over Soacha Cundinamarca resulting in 107 dead in 1989.

In Colombian history, the FARC were initially major enemies of the drug cartels. The MAS (Muerte a los secuestradores - Death to the kidnappers) was a group created by the most eminent members of the Cali cartel, including Escobar and Ochoa against the guerrillas who had kidnapped one of Ochoa's sister. The MAS was responsible for the deaths of 500 members of the Patriotic Union, a political party that emerged from the demobilization of part of the FARC in the 1990s. Significantly, it is worth recalling that Medellin cartel refused to buy coca from peasants living in areas under FARC control. From then on, even when there was evidence of collaboration between FARC and the drug traffickers, these connections were described as « temporary alliances ».[14]

President Alvaro Uribe, who was elected on the idea of waging an all-out war against the FARC, over-emphasized the link between drugs and the FARC as well as the terrorist nature of the guerilla group in a post 2001 context: “(Álvaro Uribe) increasingly equated the guerrillas with drug traffickers and terrorists” .[15] This policy has provoked much criticism which has enriched the debate on the nature of the conflict in Colombia, and consequently on the character of the FARC.

See also

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Terrorist Search Reaches Paraguay". The Washington Post. 2001-10-13. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  2. ^ https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/3195 [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Outline.com". Outline.com. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  4. ^ DEA Digging Into Al Qaeda Drug Links Archived 2010-11-09 at the Wayback Machine, By Robert Hendin, July 18, 2008. CBS News.
  5. ^ A GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF NARCOTICS-FUNDED TERRORIST AND OTHER EXTREMIST GROUPS Archived 2017-12-15 at the Wayback Machine, May 2002, Library of Congress – Federal Research Division
  6. ^ Testimony of Victor Comras to the US House Subcommittee on Financial Oversight and Investigations, hearings on Current and Evolving Trends in Terrorism Financing. September 28, 2010.
  7. ^ John Rollins & Liana Sun Wyler, Terrorism and Transnational Crime: Foreign Policy Issues for Congress Archived 2016-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, Congressional Research Service (June 11, 2013).
  8. ^ "The Drug War and Terrorism". Narcoterror.org. 2009-07-16. Archived from the original on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
  9. ^ Abou Zahr, Khaled (22 September 2022). "Hezbollah has turned Lebanon into a narco-state". Arab News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022.
  10. ^ Rose, Söderholm, Caroline, Alexander (April 2022). "The Captagon Threat: A Profile of Illicit Trade, Consumption, and Regional Realities" (PDF). New Lines Institute: 26, 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Azami, Dawood (August 28, 2021). "Afghanistan: How do the Taliban make money?". BBC News. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  12. ISBN 9780160709500. Archived
    from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  13. ^ https://janus-initiative.com Archived 2019-10-23 at the Wayback Machine Janus Initiative
  14. ^ Bagley, B.M. (1988), "Colombia and the War on Drugs." Foreign Affairs 67, no. 1 70-92. P84
  15. ^ Congressional Research Service, Plan Colombia: a progress report, 2005, p2

External links

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