Terrorists, whether they be Arab Islamic extremists such as al-Qaeda or South American Marxist rebels such as the FARC, unite in their chaos-wielding and fund sourcing. Their common denominator is drug money from Colombia that comes from the billion-dollar and highly lucrative global cocaine trade.

According to Adriaan Alsema of Colombia Reports, “Colombian guerrillas have entered into an “unholy alliance” with Islamic extremists, who are helping the Marxist rebels smuggle cocaine through Africa on its way to European markets, a U.S. official told Reuters. Interdiction efforts have made it more difficult to send cocaine straight from Colombia and other Andean producer nations to the United States and Europe. As a result, criminal organizations including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are accessing European markets via Africa. They are doing this with the help of al Qaeda and other groups branded “terrorists” by Washington, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).”

There used to be no known link between al-Qaeda and drug monies until the arrest and subsequent extradition last December of three West Africans, all with confirmed links to al-Qaeda, on charges of terrorism and drug trafficking.

Apparently, the al-Qaeda has been helping Colombian drug lords ship and distribute their drugs to Europe via Africa, in an intricate web of drug trafficking network. Colombian drug trafficking organizations have been using Africa as a shipping route and a transshipment point to bring their cocaine to Europe.

With the South American cocaine trade as certified big business, the business of terrorism is well-funded and far from being possibly eradicated.