Adfero Group HSPI

The illicit global drug trade as a ready source of funding for terrorist organizations is a dimension of terrorism that many in Washington, D.C. fail to comprehend, and many more neglect to even talk about.

I would place Coll’s book along side Lawrence Wright’s “The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11″ as indispensable books for anybody wishing to understand what led to al Qaeda’s murderous attack on the United States in 2001. (Not to mention the 1993 forerunner attack on the World Trade Center, the 1996 Khobar Tower bombing and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.)

In all of the coverage of the rescue of the hostages from the Colombian terrorist organization known as the FARC, it is disturbing to see the mainstream media nearly universally refer to the FARC as “Colombian rebels” or a “feared insurgent group.” The FARC is one of the globe’s most lethal narcoterrorist organizations. Or was, anyway. It seems to be imploding even as a criminal and terrorist organization.

Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings this month on the application and definition of federal money laundering statutes are problematic for federal investigators and prosecutors. The Cuellar v. United States case, a 9-0 decision, was a “no brainer” and addressed the act of concealment to avoid detection. The second case, Santos v. United States, a 5-4 decision, is more complicated and will prove to be even more frustrating in government efforts to crack down on criminal activity.

The rulings of the Supreme Court last week on two money laundering cases will directly impact the federal government’s ability to utilize a very powerful prosecutorial tool, with conviction carrying a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The first case, Cuellar v. United States, seemed like a “no-brainer” as the Court ruled 9-0 that simple concealment of cash is not money laundering.