Thread: Hezbollah Operative on US-Mexico Border? Officials Won't Say

U.S., Mexican Officials Say They Can't Confirm Arrest of Hezbollah Operative on Border
By Joshua Rhett Miller

Published July 09, 2010
| FoxNews.com


Officials in the U.S. and Mexico say they cannot confirm a widely-circulating report out of Kuwait that a Hezbollah leader has been arrested in Mexico.

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah reported last week that Hezbollah operatives had employed Mexican nationals with ties to Lebanon to set up a network in South America designed to target Israel and the West, and that the group's alleged leader, Jameel Nasr, had been arrested in Tijuana.

According to the report, authorities in Mexico conducted a surveillance operation on Nasr, who traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive instructions from Hezbollah militants.

Nasr -- who was said to be living in Tijuana at the time of his reported arrest -- made frequent trips to other countries in Latin America, including a two-month stay in Venezuela in 2008, according to the report.

Attempts to confirm that an arrest had taken place were unsuccessful. Police officials in Tijuana told FoxNews.com that they no information pertaining to Nasr and Mexican embassy officials in Washington did not return multiple messages seeking comment. U.S. State Department officials said they could not confirm Nasr's arrest but would be unable to do so if the arrest occurred in Mexico. Officials at Interpol referred inquires to Mexican authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security said it does not have "any credible information" that terrorist groups are operating along America's Southwest border.

On June 23, two weeks before Nasr's reported arrest, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano calling for more "intelligence gathering" on Hezbollah's presence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requested a task force be created to evaluate the terror network's presence, activities and connections to drug cartels.

The congresswoman also noted that officials in Southwestern states have begun noticing tattoos of gang members in prison that are written in Farsi.

"We have typically seen tattoos in Arabic, but Farsi implies a Persian influence that can likely be traced back to Iran and its proxy army, Hezbollah," the letter continued. "These tattoos in Farsi are almost always seen in combination with gang or drug cartel tattoos. These combinations have been increasing in number and point to the fact that these criminals are tied to both Hezbollah and gangs and drug cartels."

Drug cartels and Hezbollah operatives have been partnering along the U.S-Mexico border in part due to Hezbollah's experience in the rugged terrain along the border, according to Myrick's letter, which cited former intelligence officials.

"This terrain is very much like the areas around Israel's borders," the letter continued. "As we well know, Hezbollah is extremely skilled in the construction of tunnels. Israel has time and again found Hezbollah tunnels leading into Israel, some of which are large enough to accommodate trucks. Likewise, these intelligence officials say that the drug cartels, in an effort to dig larger and more effective tunnels, are employing the expertise of Hezbollah."

In a statement issued to FoxNews.com, DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said the agency would respond directly to Myrick and said it does not have any "credible information" on terrorist groups operating along the border.

"DHS secures our border based on an intelligence-driven, layered enforcement approach; an effort that includes advance information, sophisticated technology and partnerships with law enforcement agencies and other countries," Chandler's statement read. "At this time, DHS does not have any credible information on terrorist groups operating along the Southwest Border."

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism and Law at St. Mary's University in Texas, said its "pretty common knowledge" within the intelligence community that Islamic radical groups and their affiliates have been operating in Central and South America for some time, as well as within U.S. cities.

"Every major city in this country has Hamas or Hezbollah sympathizers or supporters," Addicott told FoxNews.com. "They're worldwide organizations. There's a lot of stuff going on under the radar, but we haven’t had a large incident to bring it to our attention."


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/07/12 ... s-worried/

July 11, 2010
Rep. Franks, Gov. Richardson and David Axelrod on "State of the Union"
By State of the Union

Excerpt: Transcript from Real Clear Politics

Representative Trent Franks:
"Just recently, a Hezbollah leader, Jameel Nasr (ph), was arrested in Tijuana, south of San Diego,and I assure you his intentions were not good trying to come over our border. And it's astonishing to me that, when we live in a 9/11 world, that border security is focused entirely on just the immigration issue, when it really -- the national security component is much greater here."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articl ... 06277.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is anyone surprised that blogger are reporting on this and the MSM isn't?

Dixie

Mexico thwarts Hezbollah bid to set up South American network
06.07.10

Militant group employed Mexican nationals with ties to Lebanon to target Israel and the West, Kuwaiti newspaper reports.
By Jack Khoury and Haaretz Service


Mexico foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to establish a network in South America, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Hezbollah operatives employed Mexicans nationals with family ties to Lebanon to set up the network, designed to target Israel and the West, the Al-Seyassah daily said.

According to the report, Mexican police mounted a surveillance operation on the group's leader, Jameel Nasr, who traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive information and instructions from Hezbollah commanders there.
Hassan Nasrallah

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Photo by: Reuters

Police say Nasr also made frequent trips to other countries in Latin America, including a two-month stay in Venezuela in the summer of 2008.

Nasr was living in Tijuana, Mexico at the time of his arrest, the report said.

The report follows warnings from the United States that Hezbollah and its backer Iran are stepping up operations in the region.

In June, a U.S. congresswoman wrote to the Department of Homeland Security to warn that Hezbollah was increasing its presence in Central and South America.

In her letter, Congresswoman Sue Myrick called on the U.S. to work with Mexican forces, as there was intelligence that Hezbollah was working in conjunction with Mexican drug cartels on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In 2009 a U.S. commander tasked with overseeing U.S. military interests in the region said Hezbollah was linked to drug-trafficking in Colombia.

"We have seen... an increase in a wide level of activity by the Iranian government in this region," Admiral James Stavridis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"That is a concern principally because of the connections between the government of Iran, which is a state sponsor of terrorism, and Hezbollah," he said.

In February a U.S. court in Miami indicted three men for raising funds for Hezbollah, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah is believed to have been behind the bombing of a Jewish cultural center in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires in 1994, in which 85 people were killed.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... k-1.300360

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

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