Hezbollah has exploited the European Union’s failure to designate its political wing as a terrorist organization to launder money raised through human trafficking in South America and Africa, according to a new analysis published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
Ella Rosenberg, a senior research fellow at the JCFA and a member of the Dvorah Forum, argued in her analysis that the EU’s failure to designate Hezbollah’s political wing has allowed the Iran-backed group to operate more freely in its fundraising activities.
She said the distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wings has enabled proceeds from human trafficking in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East to be laundered through front companies, charitable organizations, and trade networks in Europe.
Hezbollah's documented fundraising through crime
Although Hezbollah, as an Iranian proxy, receives much of its weaponry and resources from Tehran, it also maintains a documented criminal network that relies heavily on human trafficking to finance its activities.
Although Lebanon criminalized human trafficking in 2011 under Law 164, enforcement has frequently been undermined by state corruption and Hezbollah’s influence, Rosenberg argued. The law covers the sexual exploitation of women, yet reports dating back to 2016 have highlighted prostitution rings allegedly operated in cooperation with Hezbollah-affiliated officials.
The terrorist organization has reportedly protected these rings, using its influence to prevent state security agencies from intervening in their illicit activities in exchange for an unknown share of the profits.
According to Rosenberg, the protection money generated by the sex trafficking rings was reportedly directed toward Hezbollah’s social welfare programs and used to cover the living expenses of terrorists killed in action.
Outside Lebanon, Hezbollah-affiliated logistical hubs have become deeply entwined with human traffickers, she continued. In Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, cartel members have reportedly supported Hezbollah operatives.
Victims trapped in debt bondage are coerced into forced labor or illicit activities to repay exorbitant transit fees charged by Hezbollah-aligned facilitators. Reports also indicate significant cooperation with violent drug cartels, including Los Zetas, generating substantial proceeds that are subsequently laundered through trade-based mechanisms.
Questions over the origins of Hezbollah's funds
In West and Central Africa, Hezbollah has a “deep financial footprint,” Rosenberg wrote. Hezbollah operatives are said to systematically exploit both the Lebanese diaspora living in the region and local populations.
Rosenberg also described Hezbollah’s alleged involvement in trafficking blood diamonds and narcotics across Africa. The group can reportedly organize bulk-cash smuggling operations and use schemes involving real estate and vehicles to facilitate transactions that leave little trace and transfer funds to Beirut while circumventing sanctions.
The origins of Hezbollah’s funding have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks after reports that the group received $200 million from Iran to support people displaced by its war with Israel. The US State Department dismissed the initial report as a fabrication. However, days after Reuters reported on the alleged transfer, Hezbollah announced financial assistance of up to $14,000 for displaced families.
The origins of the funds have seemingly caused some confusion in Beirut. Lebanese MP Fouad Makhzoumi said that there were “serious questions about the sources of these funds, how they were brought into Lebanon, and how they were transported and distributed outside official financial frameworks.”
“Assisting our affected people is a national duty, but their suffering cannot serve as a cover for parallel financial systems or a pretext for circumventing Lebanese laws…,” he said.
“There can be no sovereignty for a state that does not monopolize arms nor assert its authority over the movement of money. Nor can we accept a state within a state, neither militarily nor financially. Lebanon needs one state, one legitimate weapon, and a law applied to all without exception.”