Hizbollah has tirelessly sought to turn Lebanon into a marionette of its paymasters in Iran. AFP Photo / Mahmoud Zayyar
Hizbollah has tirelessly sought to turn Lebanon into a marionette of its paymasters in Iran. AFP Photo / Mahmoud Zayyar

Hezbollah moneymen face French justice after global wave of arrests



French courts heard evidence of a vast international money laundering and drug smuggling operation run by suspects linked to Hezbollah that stretched across four continents.

The network was busted in a wave of arrests in 2016 and the hearings in Paris are laid bare a global network that handled tens of millions of dollars in narcotics, luxury contraband and smuggled goods.

A total of 15 defendants linked to the Lebanese diaspora, including Mohamed Noureddine, 44, the suspected operations chief and a designated as a member of Hezbollah by the US Treasury.

Prosecutors have amassed evidence that the group handled the vast sums generated from smuggling drugs on behalf of a Colombian drug cartel, run by the kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, shipping large quantities of cocaine to Europe and the US.

Led by the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the investigation involved seven countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, from its launch in February 2015. In late January 2016 a co-ordinated series of arrests took place across all four countries. Mr Noureddine, who denies involvement in drug smuggling, was held at the French airport, Roissy.

French investigators have now pieced together a triple-tiered money laundering operation that involved buying luxury goods and even whole businesses to disguise the origins of the drug revenues.

Cash was dropped off at hairdressers in Antwerp in Belgium, a large hotel in Paris, a restaurant in Montreuil or a café in Enschede in the Netherlands. Transcripts showed that Mr Noureddine would hand out orders for the collection of as much as 500,000 euros at a time. Six figure sums were often delivered in small note denominations.

Among the colourful codes that the group used for its drop-offs was Mercedes 250, meaning of 250,000 euros, while "truck" was a tranche of one million euros. Meanwhile the destinations were also given codewords, including the "oven" for the Netherlands, and the "mill" for Belgium.

Read more:

Drugs, diamonds and used cars: the Hezbollah network the US destroyed

US Justice Department designates Hezbollah ‘transnational crime organisation’

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Outposts ranged from Singapore to Coliombia, via the Middle East. The informal banking arrangements in Hawala networks was often used to shift the money across borders including to the drug gangs of Colombia. American investigations also compiled evidence of an import and export trade in luxury vehicles, including Porsche, BMW or Range Rover, that were shipped to West Africa, Lebanon or Dubai.

Dealerships involved in this network occupied some of the most prestigious sites in France, including the Arc de Triomphe showroom in Paris. Hundreds of thousands of euros was paid for merchandise at leading jewellers for the easily transportable and expensive watches of Rolex and Patek Philippe.

The main destination for the luxury products was Beirut airport, where the head of intelligence was known contact of the group, according to the DEA. It also alleges that part of the money was used to procure weapons used by Hezbollah units in Syria.

Funds returned to the Colombians was funnelled through Lebanon-based Chams Exchange, a foreign exchange dealer active around the world.

The main movers in the money and luxury goods operations were Noureddine, an associate named Abbas Nasser and Mohamad Ali Chour, who was in 2016 at Abidjan airport in West Africa carrying $1.7 million said to be destined for Hezbollah’s local operation.

The nexus was ultimately run by a man called Mohammad Ammar from a prominent Lebanese family who was arrested in Florida in early 2016 while travelling from his home in Medellin, Colombia.

Matthew Levitt, an expert on Hezbollah's financial operations, has said the arrests in 2016 were among the most significant breakthroughs against its lucrative links to drugs and money laundering ever seen.

"This was no rogue operation but, rather, a function of Hezbollah’s “financial apparatus,” which “maintained direct ties” to both Hezbollah commercial and terrorist elements," he wrote in a report published by the Washington Institute of the US Treasury designation of Nourheddine, which preceded the arrests. "Within days of this designation, Noureddine was arrested in France along with several other accused Hezbollah operatives.

"The arrests, it would turn out, were part of long-planned and well-executed law enforcement operation—Operation Cedar—of which the Treasury designation was just one part.  Indeed, it was the extensive evidence of a Hezbollah transnational criminal enterprise, largely, but by no means only, operating out of Europe, that led to this massive international law enforcement operation targeting Hezbollah’s business affairs component activities in Europe."

CREW
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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi

Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe

For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.

Golden Dallah

For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.

Al Mrzab Restaurant

For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.

Al Derwaza

For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup. 

BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP

Group A

Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA

Group B

Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti

Group C

Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia

Group D

Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria

The%20specs
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SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY

Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)

Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)

Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)

Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)

Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)

Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)

The specs

Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 400hp

Torque: 475Nm

Transmission: 9-speed automatic

Price: From Dh215,900

On sale: Now

Community Shield info

Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)

Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte

Referee Bobby Madley

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

Company%20profile
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier

The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier

Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets

Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs

Table

1 UAE 5 5 0 10

2 Qatar 5 4 1 8

3 Saudi 5 3 2 6

4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4

5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2

6 Maldives 5 0 5 0

THE SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

On sale: Now

Du Plessis plans his retirement

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.

Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.

"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday. 

Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net

Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.

Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.

A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.

Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

The biog

Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed

Age: 34

Emirate: Dubai

Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele