ALBAWABA - An international investigative report entitled 'Shadow Diplomats' revealed that Hezbollah is involved in money laundering, drugs and weapons deals by using honorary consuls in various countries.
According to the report, Hezbollah representatives help the buyers secure coveted positions as special diplomats, known as honorary consuls, to assist the money launderers in ensuring a smooth process for their deals.
NEW: #ShadowDiplomats exposes the global scale of misuse and exploitation of a little-known role in international diplomacy called honorary consuls, undermined by alleged criminals.
— ICIJ (@ICIJorg) November 14, 2022
Investigated by ICIJ, @ProPublica and 160 journalists in 46 countries. ? https://t.co/0Wyk7AeDFC
The Investigative report highlighted that the suspicions were left uninvestigated until the first measures against Hezbollah's network were taken in March 2022. At the beginning, two Lebanese-origin businessmen living in Ghana were suspected of smuggling money for Hezbollah.
The businessmen are believed to have used their 'diplomatic passports' obtained by virtue of their status as honorary consuls.
According to US intelligence sources, the Hezbollah network used the consuls in a well-organized manner.
Excited to be a part of #ShadowDiplomats - a new @ICIJ & @propublica project exposing the criminal usage of the the Honorary consuls system by some countries and individuals. Read the Israeli parts of the investigation in @HashomrimOrg https://t.co/4VnG0SMuO5
— Uri Blau (@uri_blau) November 14, 2022
The investigation clarified that the consuls get the same protections and perks given to career diplomats under an international treaty, their archives and correspondence cannot be seized as well as their bags don't get touched or searched.
Honorary consuls are citizens of the country in which they work, as there are about 25,000 honorary consuls worldwide, while the investigation indicates that about 500 of them were used in smuggling money, weapons and antiquities.
The 'Shadow Diplomats' report was shared by ICIJ and ProPublica to expose the criminal usage of the honorary consuls' system by some countries, organizations and individuals.
