ISIS Earns ‘Hundreds of Millions’ Annually from Drug Trade, Says Russia Anti-Drug Chief Ivanov

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ISIS Earns ‘Hundreds of Millions’ Annually from Drug Trade, Says Russia Anti-Drug Chief Ivanov

March 12, 2016 (EIRNS)—Viktor Ivanov, the chief of Russia’s federal drug control service gave a wide-ranging interview yesterday on the international drug epidemic to TASS, where he described a breakdown in communication with the United States in anti-drug matters due to Obama’s sanctions regime against Russia, and the huge flow of drug money to the Islamic State terrorist armies through areas they control in the Middle East.

"The annual profit of the Islamic State terrorist group from drug trafficking reaches several hundreds of millions of dollars,"

TASS reported.

"These are funds that can be used to purchase oil, weapons and so on. This is only our assessment. As you understand, the IS does not report to us,"

Ivanov said "Tons of drugs transit" territories that these terrorist groups control, Ivanov said. The profits are quickly used to set up the structure of operations for the terrorist/criminal gangs including intelligence, counterintelligence, gunmen and assassins, Ivanov described.

Some officials of the Russian anti-drug agency are accredited in Washington and have contacts with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, but since the imposition of sanctions (and Ivanov is on the U.S. sanctions list), "the ‘hot line’ does not work," Ivanov said.