The Argentine government has frozen assets and money belonging to 14 members of the Barakat Clan, suspected of having ties to the terrorist organization Hezbollah, for possibly laundering $10 million through a casino in the Iguazú region in the Tri-Border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Group members may have collected the money in casino winnings and did not declare it at the border crossing. They frequently used the crossing to smuggle in cash according to warnings from U.S. and other financial intelligence agencies.
The Financial Action Task Force of Latin American has repeatedly called for tightening rules in the Tri-Border Area, where various terrorist and criminal groups operate. Hezbollah has used the region for fundraising and training and as a base for attacking South America. In November 2017, U.S. Congressman Robert Pittenger of North Carolina led an international forum, attended by 300 members of the Argentine Parliament and security officials from 15 South American nations, regarding growing concerns that terrorist organizations are targeting Latin America. Pittenger said, “Hezbollah is partnering with Latin American drug lords to raise money for terrorist activity. This includes participation in drug trafficking, gun running and trade-based money laundering. The combination of radical Islamic terrorists and violent drug lords is a serious threat to national security,” Pittenger said.
The Financial Information Unit in Argentina obtained data and sent alerts to 50,000 entities including banks, casinos, exchange houses and financial institutions asking them to inform the government if they found any operations linked to the Barakat Clan. Based in Ciudad del Este, the group is involved in crimes related to counterfeiting money and documents, contraband, extortion, arms trafficking, narcotics, terrorism financing and money laundering.
