Turki Al-Dakhil

By : Turki Al-Dakhil

Terrorism and drug trafficking have always gone hand in hand considering they are transnational crimes. Hezbollah’s financial dependence on drug trafficking gets clearer every day. On Feb. 2, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said one of its international operations had succeeded in detaining members of a network linked to the Lebanese party.

Terrorists trade in everything. They are rogue gangs. They only differ in their religious slogans, which they use to embellish their hideous acts. What they are doing is evil.

Turki Al-Dakhil

The network is involved in smuggling and dealing drugs that are worth millions of dollars, to finance terror operations in Lebanon and Syria. During the past 25 years, there have many links between terrorism and drug dealing. From the 43 organizations that are officially defined (by Saudi Arabia) as foreign terrorist organizations, 19 are linked to drug trafficking.

Other organizations

The Captagon factories in Lebanon that are linked to Hezbollah have become a much-discussed subject among Lebanese. Al-Qaeda has also resorted to manufacturing and dealing drugs in Afghanistan and Africa. The International Business Times reported that cocaine is one of the major funding sources of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terrorist organizations in North Africa.

Terrorists trade in everything. They are rogue gangs. They only differ in their religious slogans, which they use to embellish their hideous acts. What they are doing is evil.

Turki Al-Dakhil is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. He began his career as a print journalist, covering politics and culture for the Saudi newspapers Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Al-Watan. He then moved to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and pan-Arab news magazine Al-Majalla. Turki later became a radio correspondent for the French-owned pan-Arab Radio Monte Carlo and MBC FM. He proceeded to Elaph, an online news magazine and Alarabiya.net, the news channel’s online platform. Over a ten-year period, Dakhil’s weekly Al Arabiya talk show “Edaat” (Spotlights) provided an opportunity for proponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies. He tweets @TurkiAldakhil.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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