Hezbollah activity against Israelis, Americans exposed in Colombia

Hezbollah operatives attempted to carry out attacks against Israeli and American targets in Colombia, Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano exposed. 

By TPS and World Israel News Staff

Colombia has recently captured and deported two Hezbollah operatives who were planning an attack against Israeli and American citizens staying in the South American country, Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said in an interview with the El Tiempo daily.

Authorities in Colombia were notified by the Mossad and other agencies that a former Israeli intelligence agent was the target for assassination by Hezbollah operatives in the country, the report noted, adding that the agent was later smuggled to Tel Aviv in a covert operation.

The report also described Hezbollah’s attempted surveillance on Israeli and American targets in Bogota.

Molano said in the interview published Sunday that Hezbollah has already carried out “criminal activities” in Colombia in the past, adding that “there are concerns about the presence of Hezbollah in Venezuela and its relationship with terrorist groups and their financing.”

He said there was a “risk with Hezbollah in Venezuela and what its links to drug traffic or terrorist groups on the Venezuelan side could generate for national security.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Colombian President Ivan Duque in Jerusalem and noted that “like Israel, I know that Colombia is concerned about Iran and Hezbollah’s terror cells being established on your border with Venezuela. From many years of experience, it is clear that these forces must be stopped swiftly—if not a minute sooner.”

In an interview given to i24NEWS, Duque noted the special relations between Israel and Colombia.

“Colombia and Israel have a dynamic relationship of cooperation. For us, Israel has never stopped being a friendly country in the areas of security, innovation, science and technology,” he said.

Colombia added Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to its list of terrorist entities in January 2020.

Hezbollah is active in central and south America and is a key player in the drug trade, profits of which it uses to fund its terrorism operations.

The scope of the terror group’s global operations was exposed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Project Cassandra against Hezbollah, which aside from operating as an international terrorist organization also runs one of the largest drug cartels in the world.