BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The owner of a Beirut hotel has been indicted for alleged involvement in shipping cocaine and laundering drug money, U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday.
The New York Times reported the indictment of Ayman Joumaa, owner of the Caesars Park Hotel, followed an examination of transactions involving the Lebanese Canadian Bank that uncovered evidence of involvement by top Hezbollah officials in South American cocaine trafficking.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia said Joumaa coordinated shipment of cocaine from Colombia to the Mexican Los Zetas cartel for eventual distribution in the United States, the Times reported. He is also accused of laundering drug business revenue.
Citing Interpol records, the newspaper said cellphone data linked Joumaa to Shiites in parts of southern Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah, which the United States regards as a terrorist group. The Obama administration said in February the Lebanese Canadian Bank was laundering money for an international cocaine operation with links to Hezbollah.
The bank's records, which had become open to examination because it was about to be sold, indicate the money-laundering system made it possible for Hezbollah to move large amounts of money into legitimate accounts, working around international sanctions intended to restrict its economic activity.
