Twelfth Meeting of the Law Enforcement Coordination Group Focuses on Countering Hizballah’s Global Terrorist, Financial, and Procurement Networks

MEDIA NOTE

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

The U.S. Departments of State and Justice led the Law Enforcement Coordination Group (LECG), which convened in Europe on September 12-13 for a regional meeting focused on Hizballah's destabilizing activities in the Western Hemisphere. Governments from across North, South, and Central America participated in this session, along with Israel and Europol.

The LECG was established by the United States and Europe in 2014 as a global forum to improve international coordination with governments from around the world to counter Hizballah's terrorist and other illicit activities.

Participants discussed how Hizballah utilizes the Western Hemisphere as a key logistical and fundraising platform for its global terrorist activities. The LECG also featured case studies on Hizballah's recent terrorist and other criminal activities in the region, and governmental actions to disrupt these various schemes. Cases studies included: Hizballah's use of cryptocurrency; Hizballah's recruitment tactics; Hizballah's illicit financial schemes; and a number of recent U.S. and international prosecutions against Hizballah members.

Officials from the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and Homeland Security, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, also participated in this meeting. The LECG will convene again in 2024.