Assembled by the joint think tank of the International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) and the Israeli Anti-Drug Authority (IADA)


General:

Today, there is growing international concern regarding the connection between terrorism, narcotics and international crime. International terrorist organizations do not distinguish between these phenomena, but rather view narcotics as a valuable asset in a number of ways: drug trade is used as a primary source of funding, propagation of narcotics is viewed as a means of conducting terrorism, and criminal communities are utilized to provide an embedded infrastructure for terrorist activities. Countering drug trade and international crime is therefore vital to the overall struggle against international terrorism.

The Objective:

The primary objective is to significantly weaken terrorist organizations by targeting narcotics as their primary source of funding. This is to be achieved by increasing awareness of the phenomenon among decision makers and among organizations that cope with the various aspects of terrorism, narcotics and international crime.

Response methods:

In-depth research is to be conducted in areas that lack sufficient academic literature – specifically, the connection between terrorism, narcotics and international crime. Such research will provide a basis for conducting joint planning, constructing inter-organizational activities and legitimizing the need for funding.
Unified capabilities for coordinating activities need to be created, both at the national and the international levels. For example, an inter-organizational mechanism could be established.
Specialized resources must be allocated to cope with the issue of narcotics as a key component in the war against terrorist organizations.

The proposed response methods are based on the following trends:

Terrorist organizations find it beneficial to safeguard and to sponsor illegal drug trade around the globe. This relationship is disconnected from the organizations’ geographic regions of operations, religious affiliations, or ideological backgrounds. Several components that facilitate the relationship between terrorist organizations and narcotics have been identified:

1. Drug trade and trafficking serve terrorist organizations as a source of funding, both in terms of selling narcotics, and in terms of providing “protection” for producers and distributors.
2. Terrorist organizations utilize drug trade as a means of gathering intelligence, obtaining confidential security-related information and attaining operational and peripheral assistance.
3. Smuggling routes are used by the terrorist organizations to transport weapons, ammunition, activists and specialists.
4. Terrorist organizations view narcotics as an act of terror in itself, which weakens the target population. Drug use causes significant detriment to the economy and increases criminal activities. An additional impairment is caused to the resilience of the target population, especially in times of crisis. In some specific cases, motivation and capabilities of military forces may be affected through propagation of narcotics.
5. Narcotics are a relatively convenient method of recruiting or influencing Jewish-Israeli individuals and organizations (for example, collaboration with Hizballah in return for drugs).


In a rational, cost-benefit and risk-probability analysis, the drug trafficking industry is a lucrative endeavor. The appeal of drug trade stems from very high profit margins and the environment where the total number of offenders is considerably larger than the number of criminals caught by the authorities. This is mainly due to a lack of proportion between the quantity of law enforcement resources necessary to capture the criminals, and the capabilities of the judicial system.

Terrorist organizations utilize illicit commercial support networks around the world. This includes networks that trade and traffic drugs, trade in weapons for terrorism purposes and conduct terrorist activities. The drug trade infrastructure is easily accessible and does not require long-term planning or allocation of special resources. Terrorist organizations and smugglers respond quickly to challenges posed to them by law enforcement authorities. Due to the non-paradigm nature of their activities, terrorist organizations are able to exhibit greater operational flexibility than the authorities that contend with the terrorist threat. Terrorist organizations devise their operational tactics with considerable knowledge of various legal loopholes and organizational limitations.

These trends stress the importance of targeting sources of terrorist funding and of countering illegal drug trade as its central component. In fact, narcotics have become the fuel that powers the terrorist mechanism due to the state’s deficiency in dealing with drug trade. Comprehensive analysis of this economic phenomenon would serve as a path to improved understanding and countering of terrorist organizations. Hindering the narcotics infrastructure is a matter of national interest and a fundamental part of the struggle against terrorism. By targeting this infrastructure, we could deal a significant blow to the main lifeline of terrorist organizations.

Countering a non-paradigm adversary requires non-paradigm measures. The activities of law enforcement and security authorities are currently confined within specialized boundaries. This restricts their ability to confront adversaries that employ non-paradigm tactics, and exploit the state’s inter-organizational discrepancies. Such structural asymmetry presents the adversaries with significant flexibility vis-à-vis the government authorities.

Countering the connection between terrorism, crime and narcotics – strategic threats to the state of Israel – necessitates close collaboration between the various authorities. Such collaboration can be conducted on three relevant levels: on the global level, it includes cooperation with international organizations, such as the UNDC; on the regional level, it includes taking advantage of European and Middle Eastern organizations; and on the local level, it includes utilizing the education system, the intelligence community and enforcement authorities.

Conclusion:

The link between narcotics, terrorism and international crime – all strategic threats to the state of Israel – necessitate collaboration of all relevant authorities that confront these phenomena. The activities of law enforcement authorities and security forces are currently confined within specialized boundaries, which restrict their ability to confront non-paradigm adversaries. Such adversaries exploit the state’s inter-organizational weaknesses. Coordinated cross-organizational activities and allocation of designated funds are therefore necessary to counter the connection between the three strategic threats.

Understanding the phenomena, and the interdisciplinary connection between them, requires exhaustive research. The assessment team recommends conducting a research project that would fill the significant gaps in existing knowledge regarding the combination of terrorism, narcotics and international crime. The research project, which will be led by the International Institute for Counter Terrorism, will deal with mapping the connection between the phenomena, tracing the components of this connection as well as indicating and selecting strategies of terrorist organizations and of security forces. In addition, the research project will focus on the link between international and local criminal arenas. Insights produced in this research will serve as basis for developing recommendations regarding possible operational options.