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Source: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/17/islamic-militants-boosting-role-in-drug-trade/
Islamic Militants Boosting Role in Drug Trade
[Washington Times] Claude Salhani - Al-Qaeda-related groups are increasingly involved in transporting drugs from West and North Africa to Europe, intelligence officials and counternarcotics specialists say. A Middle Eastern intelligence official said his agency has picked up "very worrisome reports" of rapidly growing cooperation between Islamic militants in Africa and drug lords in Latin America. "It's a weapon against the infidels in the West," said Chris Brown, a senior research associate at the Potomac Institute near Washington. Much of the trafficking of Colombian and Peruvian drugs passes through Venezuela, said Jaime Daremblum, the director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the Hudson Institute.