Hizbullah suspects busted for laundering cocaine money

Three men linked with Hizbullah who are suspected of laundering cocaine money for the Colombian cartel have been busted by US Drug Enforcement (DEA) agents, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday (October 11th).

Agents said the three men illegally moved $500,000 into Miami banks through a series of complicated financial transactions stretching from Australia to Europe.

Mohammad Ahmad Ammar, 31, who was living in Medellín, Colombia, was jailed in Miami last week and will face state felony money laundering charges.

Two other Hizbullah associates are facing charges in the same case, one of whom is in custody in Paris, while the other remains at large, possibly in Lebanon or Nigeria.

The DEA investigated the case along with the South Florida Money-Laundering Strike Force, a group of federal and state investigators, the newspaper said.

Ammar is described in court documents as a Hizbullah associate whose job was to launder money for the Colombian cocaine operation known as La Oficina, an off-shoot of the notorious Medellin cartel.

He was known to launder money through Holland, Spain, the UK, Australia and Africa, according to an arrest warrant. Ammar is charged with eight felonies, including money laundering and conspiracy to launder money.

Ghassan Diab, a purported Hizbullah associate based in Nigeria who is still at large, is facing charges. He is related to a "high-ranking member of Hizbullah".

The third accomplice facing charges is Hassan Mohsen Mansour of Hizbullah with dual Lebanese and Canadian citizenship. He is in custody in Paris, and is facing a separate but similar federal money-laundering prosecution in South Florida.