U.S. officials said the Palestinian Hamas and the Iranian-backed
Hizbullah movements have established operations in the so-called tri-border
area of South America. They said Hamas and Hizbullah use the frontier areas shared by
Paraguay, Argentina,
and Brazil as a haven for insurgency, counterfeiting and drug trafficking.
"The tri-border area of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil continues to be
a haven for Islamic extremists," Asa Hutchinson, administrator of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration, said. "The two major terrorist
organizations in the tri-border area are Hizbullah and the Islamic
Resistance movement known as Hamas. It is suspected that their illegal
activities range from producing counterfeit U.S. currency to smuggling
illegal substances through the tri-border area."
The DEA administrator told the House International Relations Committee
last week that Hamas and Hizbullah operate undisturbed in the tri-border
area, Middle East Newsline reported. The official said the situation in that region "highlights the ease
with which terrorist organizations can infiltrate and assimilate in other
countries and go relatively undetected for an extended period of time."
U.S. officials said Hamas and Hizbullah have blended in among the Muslim
populations in the tri-border area. They said Hizbullah used local Shi'ites
for logistics in the planning of bombings of Israeli and Jewish
installations in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s.
The DEA administrator told the House committee on April 24 that Kurdish
insurgents
are involved in the taxation of drug shipments and the protection of drug
traffickers in southeastern Turkey. The official identified the Kurdish
Workers Party, which waged a 15-year insurgency war against Ankara.
Officials said Middle East terrorist groups use the so-called Hawala
system to transfer drug revenues. The system is based on cash transfers
through immigrants that do not leave an official trace.
Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich said the United States has
encouraged South American nations to ratify 12 international
counter-terrorism treaties meant to identify and seize terrorist funding and
strengthen border controls.
"Terrorist organizations are operating in Colombia, Peru, and the
tri-border region of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil," Reich said last week.
"We are
concerned about international terrorists abusing the region's financial
system to raise funds or launder money."
