Terrorism and narcotics intertwined, says French terrorism expert

CAIRO –International terrorism expert Richard Labeviere said Thursday that terrorist organizations use funds they amass from illegal business activities and smuggling in buying the arms they use in carrying out terrorist attacks.

He added at a seminar on the financing of terrorist organizations in French capital Paris that the funding of terrorist organizations was varied and indirect.

The seminar is organized by the Center for Middle East Studies. It is held simultaneously with an international conference in the French capital on the financing of terrorism. French President Emmanuel Macron is attending the international conference.

Labeviere said some of the methods of terrorist organization financing were unveiled when money in the informal economy was tracked.

“It is no surprise that terrorists are finding refuge in some countries now,” Labeviere said.

He referred to the presence of close links between cocaine and terrorist activities.

Narcotics are smuggled from Latin America, he said, to the African continent.