Article: Drugs-Terrorism Link Strong in Colombia, Afghanistan, U.S. Officials Say

13 December 2000

Article: Drugs-Terrorism Link Strong in Colombia, Afghanistan, U.S. Officials Say

State's Sheehan urges new U.N. sanctions against Taliban

By Ralph Dannheisser
Washington File Congressional Correspondent

Washington -- Colombia and Afghanistan provide the clearest examples of the growing convergence among drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime, two Clinton administration experts told a congressional panel December 13.

Terrorists have increasingly looked to other sources of funding -- such as narcotics production and trafficking -- as financing from traditional state sponsors of terrorism has tended to diminish, Michael Sheehan, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, said in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime.

"Narcotraffickers and drug producers, like international criminals...seek out those corners of the world where their behavior will not be subject to government control or punishment," and that has focused their attention on "lawless" areas of the two nations, Sheehan said. "It is not surprising that there is often an overlap between those that engage in terrorism and those engaged in other internationally unacceptable behavior," he added.

Donnie Marshall, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Justice Department, similarly singled out Colombia -- the source, he said, of 70 percent of the world's cocaine HCl -- as the center of the drug-terrorism interface.

Accordingly, he told the panel, "Attacking Colombian organizations must be the centerpiece of any coordinated strategy aimed at the union of organized crime, drugs and terrorism." Traffickers in that one country "control the manufacture of the vast majority of cocaine in South America, and their fingerprints are on virtually every kilogram of cocaine sold in U.S. cities and towns."

But Marshall also focused attention on Mexico where, he said, organized crime groups engaged in drug smuggling pose an increasingly serious threat to the United States. Sheehan concurred, in answer to a question from subcommittee chairman Bill McCollum (Republican, Florida), that "Colombian criminal groups are turning more and more of their operations in the United States over to Mexican organized crime groups."

Marshall also noted the role of Russian organized crime groups, which he described as "relative newcomers to the scene in the United States." Internationally, he said, they are involved in the heroin trade to Russia, the other states of the former Soviet Union and Europe in general since "the major trafficking routes to Europe have shifted to the Balkans and through Russia and/or the former Soviet Union."

A State Department official who attended the hearing told reporters that it was timed to draw attention to a proposed new United Nations Security Council resolution which would expand sanctions against the Taliban in Afghanistan, aimed at countering their support for terrorism and the drug trade. He said the United States hoped for action on the resolution next week.

Sheehan alluded to that resolution in his testimony. He said it "would impose an arms embargo against the Taliban, hitting the regime -- not the people -- where it hurts.

"The resolution reiterates the demand that the Taliban turn over (alleged terrorist mastermind) Usama bin Ladin so he can be brought to justice, and freezes bin Ladin's financial assets." It also includes "a measure to ban the export to Afghanistan of a precursor chemical, acetic anhydride, which is used to manufacture heroin," Sheehan said.

"The international community agrees that this measure is essential because of the Taliban's refusal to put into deeds their empty promise to end opium production, which goes to support the regime and terrorists," he said.

Sheehan declared there are "no magic solutions" in the effort to counter terrorist fund raising. "We have to keep up the diplomatic and political pressure, bolster our allies' will and capability to help, and maintain strong diplomatic, intelligence, law enforcement and training components," he said.

Another subcommittee witness, Ralf Mutschke, assistant director of the Criminal Intelligence Directorate of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), outlined in his prepared testimony the role of criminal organizations in countries around the world.

Mutschke said it should be obvious that the multiple interrelated problems of terrorism and drug trafficking cannot be solved by law enforcement alone.

"On the contrary, an integrated strategy of economic, social and legal assistance to countries which face unstable political conditions and have severe economic problems is needed," he said. "Reform of the banking sector in many countries should be one of the priorities. Also, administrative procedures should be rendered more transparent and controlled through accountability procedures, in order to avoid common bribery practices. The international community as such has an important role in this field."