U.S. Drug Operation Funded Terrorist Groups in Middle East, Authorities Say

WASHINGTON — For the first time, federal authorities have amassed evidence that an illegal drug operation in the U.S. was funneling money to Middle East terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, officials said.

Evidence gathered by the Drug Enforcement Administration since a series of raids in January indicates that a methamphetamine drug operation in the Midwest involving men of Middle Eastern descent has been sending money to terrorist groups.

“There is increasing intelligence information from the investigation that for the first time alleged drug sales in the United States are going in part to support terrorist organizations in the Middle East,” DEA chief Asa Hutchinson said Friday.

DEA officials said the men, most of whom were indicted on drug charges after their January arrests, were smuggling large quantities of the chemical pseudoephedrine from Canada into the Midwest.

Officials said the smuggling mainly went through Chicago and Detroit, and involved men with ties to Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon and other Mideast countries. There is no evidence that any money was connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials said.

Pseudoephedrine is used in some popular cold and allergy medications. It is an essential ingredient in making methamphetamine.