Iranian terrorist network could use Latin American traffickers against U.S., military warns
A senior U.S. military official has once again expressed concern from Washington that Iranian-backed terrorists groups are operating throughout Latin America and working with drug trafficking groups.
Speaking to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee last week, Lieutenant General Ken Tovo – the deputy commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) – told lawmakers that he was concerned about “the financial and operational overlap between criminal and terrorist networks” in Latin America.
“While there is not yet any indication that the criminal networks involved in human- and drug-trafficking are interested in supporting the efforts of terrorist groups, these networks could unwittingly, or even wittingly, facilitate the movement of terrorist operatives or weapons of mass destruction toward our borders, potentially undetected and almost completely unrestricted,” Tovo said in his testimony to Congress…. (more…)