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Drugs and Terrorism: Myths and realities

Drugs and Terrorism: Myths and realities. Benoît G omis, counter terror expo 2014.

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Drugs and Terrorism: Myths and realities

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  1. Drugs and Terrorism: Myths and realities Benoît Gomis, counter terror expo 2014

  2. “The Afghan drug trade has given direct financial support for the Taliban regime to harbor international terrorists and at least indirectly assisted Usama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist network to grievously attack the United States of America” • Mark Souder

  3. “The very sanctuary enjoyed by Bin Laden is based on the existence and control of the Taliban, whose modest economy is dependent upon opium. This connection defines the deadly symbiotic relationship between the illegal drug trade and international terrorism” • Ana Hutchinson (DEA)

  4. “Afghanistan: the connection between the warlords, drugs and terror is as clear as a bell” • Joe Biden

  5. “Bin Laden is one of the world’s largest heroin dealers” • Mark Kirk

  6. “increasingly dangerous nexus between illicit drug trafficking, including routes, profits, and corruptive influence and Islamic radical terrorism” • Admiral James Stavridis

  7. “If we want to avoid that in the next few months our countries are under the influence of narco-terrorism, we must act now” • Laurent Fabius

  8. AFGHANISTAN

  9. “Around 90 per cent of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan” • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

  10. In 2009, the Taliban only collected 3% of the proceeds of the drug trade, while 75% of revenues in fact benefited state officials, the police, various power brokers and traffickers. • JulienMercille

  11. MALI

  12. “The term “narco-terrorism” does not accurately describe a reality: terrorists are usually not the same as drugs traffickers. But they are useful to each other for political and social power, access to resources and for personal connections” • “Trafficking and Terrorism in the Sahel”, • FCO Research Analyst Paper, November 2013

  13. ‘British American Tobacco and the "insidious impact of illicit trade" in cigarettes across Africa’ • E LeGresley, K Lee, M E Muggli, P Patel, J Collin and R D Hurt. Tobacco Control 2008; 17; 339-346 • “BAT has relied on illegal channels to supply markets across Africa since the 1980s”

  14. MEXICO

  15. Since 2006: • Over 70,000 drug-related killings • Over 26,000 have disappeared • Mexico’s homicide rate: from 8.1 per 100,000 (2007) to 23.7 per 100.000 (2012) • Reported kidnappings: +188% (2007-2013)

  16. “If you label these organizations as terrorist, you will have to start calling drug consumers in the U.S. 'financiers of terrorist organizations' and gun dealers 'providers of material support to terrorists’” • ArthuroSarukhan

  17. Terrorism involves “direct violent action without legal or moral restraints, targeting mainly civilians and non-combatants”. • Alex Schmid

  18. CONCLUSIONS • Drugs and organized crime are significant issues in their own right • One should not assume a direct, symbiotic or systematic relationship between drugs and terrorism • The links between the drug trade and legitimate actors are too often ignored • The ‘terrorism’ label has been used to draw attention

  19. CONTACT • Email: gomis.benoit@gmail.com • Twitter: @benoitgomis • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/benoitgomis (including relevant publications) • Chatham House project on Drugs and Organized Crime: www.chathamhouse.org • Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society (TSAS): www.tsas.ca

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