Extremists Finance Terror By Smuggling Cigarettes

We know by now that cigarettes have harmful effects on our health. But apparently, they also put our security at risk.

Francesca Astorri reports that extremists in Libya and the Maghreb region smuggled $1 billion in cigarettes to finance terror.

This new and very profitable funding source has replaced old tactics such as kidnappings, to the extent that the former Algerian military commander of al-Qaeda in Maghreb is known as Mr. Marlboro. The explanation is simple: The instability in the region has forced many foreign citizens and companies out, and terrorist groups had to find other illicit ways to fund their activities.

It is a brief, but interesting, piece as it points at the exorbitant sums and the different ways extremist organizations benefit from the illicit cigarette trade.