Money Laundering: The Revolutionary Armed Forces Of Colombia

Money laundering is when illegal gains are made into profits legally. The process of money laundering has three steps and they are placement, layering, and integration. Placement is where criminal money is put in the financial system. An example of this is showing money as a profit. Layering is the second process of money laundering and this is where one repeatedly launders the money the hide where it came from. Lastly, is integration. This is where people present illegal money in the economic system as if it were legally obtained monetary. It is hard to trace laundered money when people use informal transfers and/or underground networks.

An example of a successful money laundering method is The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

method called black market peso exchange. This process is where they make U.S. money on drugs and give it to Colombian brokers in exchange for Colombian Pesos. These brokers then sell the money to businesses in Colombia and they buy U.S. products. These businesses export the products and sell them. This process makes all the money look legitimate.

Terrorist financing is methods that terrorists use to increase the materials they need to support their operations.

Terrorist frequently use economic crimes to gain money. Some examples are: robberies, theft, selling drugs, etc. They may get money illegally, they also get it legally through charities, donations, etc. Hamed Tofangsaz believes there are three types of financing that terrorists use. These three methods are acquiring funds, securing funds, and disbursing funds. When it comes to obtaining money, terrorist fund-raise. They have to be able to maintain and keep their resources financially. Finally, they have to distribute their resources so every terror cell receives them. Victor Dostov and Pavel Shust also suggests that terrorist can also get support legitimately by rental points, airline miles, and other bonuses. These bonuses can be used to help finance their

terrorism.

The Hawala System is a underground market that terrorist and other criminals funnel their money through. The system originated in China hundreds of years ago as Feng Chin which is translated to "flying money." This method is legitimate way of transferring money internationally without actually crossing international borders. This method can however violate the transfer of currency regulations in some countries. For example, an organization in the United States wants weapons do they they give money to the Hawaladar (a Hawala dealer) and they get a receipt. The members will then send the receipt to a dealer in the United States and they will tell the arms dealers that the money was deposited. At this point, the drug dealers give the weapons to the group. The Hawala system is beneficial because their is no records, long-term trusting relationships, barters, and no tax records.

Hezbollah is a militant group, political party, and a social welfare organization.

This group has a variety of sources when it comes to funding themselves. They use laundering systems and underground networks to move their money. Iran is their most important sponsor along with other state funding. Hezbollah makes roughly $200 million yearly just from Iran. Front organizations and charities also help fund these terrorists. This organization also depends on criminal activities in places like Lebanon. An example of this is extensive protection racket. This is where business have to pay a "Hezbollah tax" to guarantee that none of their personnel or property gets damaged. This group also expands to narcotics trafficking and smuggling cigarettes in Africa and North America. Hezbollah is so multiplexed that it even control business that are legitimate along with controlling international wire services. With vast reach, they have money coming in from everywhere and this allows them to fund organizations like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and

Hamas.

Narcoterrorism is where one uses profits made from drugs to finance terrorism or using tactics that are terroristic in nature to assist in drug operations. Rachel Ehrenfeld's research suggests that terrorists use narcotics as their primary source of income. Napoleoni and Steven Casteel both believe that since globalization has expanded, the relationship between terrorism and drugs has increased. Since this is a global problem, it is seen all the time in North America, Europe, and most other countries. Joshua Krasna believes that the national security definition should expand military defense to narcotics as well since they pose such a security risk universally. Drug trades limit governments ability, but increases insurgents abilities.
Some people disagree with narcoterrorism. These people are aware of the link between drugs and terrorism, but argue that there are other methods that terrorists use to obtain money. It is also argued that the term narcoterrorism takes political advantage of the fear of terrorism. These critic believe that combining the two brings confusion upon the issues. Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy and many other critics believe that if terrorism disappears, drug trade would still remain. If the government links terrorism and drugs then drug dealers could become terrorists and this will bring more fear to the public, according to critics. Civil libertarians also argue that courts are more willing to grant wiretaps and search warrants as opposed to drug dealers. Overall, critics see this as the governments way creating more fear and giving themselves more power.

b) Illustrate the relationship between terrorism and media, with reference to the New Media, and the Censorship Debate–Text J. White, pp.78-85, and 97-99 (in 500/700 words)
Terrorist used the media to further their ideology, but soon the media realized they were being manipulated. They then began to use the media to report their actions and attacks in order to produce more fear. The media responded by limiting the information they shared and the terrorists lost control, or that was until the twenty-first century. With the creation of mass media, terrorist have complete control over their messages. 70
The new media now allows for selective communication. Some examples of this are social media networks, blogs, and internet osts. This type of communication is typically two-way and terrorism is significantly on the rise. Between 2000-2011, terrorism expanded by 15,000 percent in Pakistan and 2,000 percent in the Middle East. Since then, terrorist can now create their own narratives without being controlled and since electronics are so cheap.
Based on Jytte Klausen's investigation in social media and terrorism, Twitter is where most terrorists recruit and communicate with others. Klausen's study proved that jihadists give the impression that Western recruits communicate with their networks at home, but that is not the truth. Once these recruits enter training camps, they have to release their devices. If these individuals communicate with their friends or family in any way they will be killed. Only the truly trusted recruits are allowed to have access to their posts, but other than that the group controls their messages. Terrorists clearly know the extent of the internet and how to use it for their advantage. For example, broadcasting videos to create fear and creating their own websites to encourage recruits.
When it comes to terrorists and other criminals, steganography was created. Steganography is when one hides an encoded message on an internet site. Terrorist use this to communicate and to arrange cyberattacks. Stephan Lau and a few others believe that terrorist do not use this and therefore it is not a threat.
Censorship is widely debated because some believe that terrorism is brought on because of the media being reckless and providing terrorist with information. Once terrorists release information, videos, or open websites, agencies shut their sites down. Paul Wilkinson states that there are three methods to combating terrorism while maintaining freedom to the press. The first one is the laissez-faire attitude. This is where the norm is determined by the market force. Secondly, is censorship. This is where the government has sole veto when it comes to news reports. Lastly, is allowing the press to control itself. Wilkinson believes that if they know they are aiding terrorism, they will change. The debate over censorship and which method should we follow is a very heated debate with freedom of speech at the center. The government censors their information to the public to ensure safety and the media along with many others wanted the Freedom of Information (FOL) Act to be created. This act allows the public to have access to government records.