Project Cedar (DEA)

{{Short description|International law enforcement operation}}

Project Cedar was a collaborative international law enforcement operation led by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in partnership with European authorities. Launched in 2016, the initiative aimed to dismantle a sophisticated global drug trafficking and money laundering network associated with Hezbollah’s Business Affairs Component (BAC), a unit known for managing the organization's financial activities.{{Cite web |last=Levitt |first=Matthew |date=2022 |title=Episode 6: Operation Cedar Hezbollah Narco-Money Laundering |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/5452 |website=The Washington Institute}}{{Cite web |last=Levanoni |first=Moran |date=2021 |title=No Boundaries – The Syrian-Lebanese Drug Economy |url=https://dayan.org/content/no-boundaries-syrian-lebanese-drug-economy |website=MDC}}

The investigation was part of the larger Project Cassandra, which was an umbrella initiative encompassing about 20 operations targeting Hezbollah's global criminal support network.{{Cite web |date=2017-12-18 |title=Report: Obama's WH Eased Up on Hezbollah to Appease Iran |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-obamas-white-house-went-easy-on-hezbollah-to-appease-iran/ |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=The Daily Beast |language=en}} The investigation revealed that Hezbollah had developed extensive ties with South American drug cartels, including La Oficina de Envigado, which supplied cocaine to markets in the United States and Europe and the Colombia's Medellín Cartel. Notably, Chekri Mahmoud Harb, also known as "Taliban," was a central figure in this network.{{Cite web |date=1961-08-25 |title=Chekri Mahmoud Harb |url=https://www.opensanctions.org/entities/Q131682999/ |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=OpenSanctions.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Watchlist Profile: Chekri Mahmoud Harb {{!}} Global Watchlist |url=https://www.sanctionswatchlist.com/profile/chekri-mahmoud-harb~dc7a7cf73bda8dcf776d92e4629102af |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=www.sanctionswatchlist.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=IT |first=Lursoft |date=2025-01-22 |title=Chekri Mahmoud HARB |url=https://sanctions.lursoft.lv/person/chekri-mahmoud-harb/ofac-11546 |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=www.lursoft.lv |language=en}} Harb, a Lebanese-Colombian national, was involved in coordinating cocaine shipments from South America to the Middle East and Europe, collaborating with those cartels. His operations funneled significant drug proceeds to Hezbollah, aiding in financing the group's activities.{{Cite web |title=Criminal funding – DW – 12/20/2011 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/lebanese-canadian-bank-linked-to-hezbollah/a-15612492 |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=dw.com |language=en}}

Proceeds from these drug sales were funneled through trade-based money laundering schemes, such as the Black Market Peso Exchange. This illicit financial network supported Hezbollah’s operations, supplementing its funding beyond the traditional financial backing from Iran. The operation exposed Hezbollah's involvement in transnational organized crime, highlighting the group’s reliance on illegal narcotics trafficking and financial fraud to sustain its political and military activities. Project Cedar underscored the integration of terrorism financing and global criminal enterprises, prompting calls for enhanced international cooperation to disrupt such networks.{{Cite journal |last=Guarin |first=Jeferson |date=2020 |title=FARC-Hezbollah: The success of Venezuela-Iran proxy groups and their convergence in the Americas |url=https://securityanddefence.pl/FARC-Hezbollah-The-success-of-Venezuela-Iran-proxy-groups-and-their-convergence-in,130934,0,2.html |journal=Security and Defence Quarterly|volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=117–134 |doi=10.35467/sdq/130934 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite news |date=2008 |title=Colombia Ties Drug Ring to Hezbollah |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/americas/22colombia.html |work=The New York Times}}