Reported by Christina Goldbaum

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/world/americas/hezbollah-venezuela-ties.html)

How did Hezbollah get involved in Venezuela?

Hezbollah’s connection stemmed from the relationship between Venezuela and Iran. Two oil-rich countries under American sanctions, they were bound by anti-American ideology and helped each other evade U.S. sanctions.

Iran and Venezuela have maintained economic and political ties since before Iran’s 1979 revolution, which brought an authoritarian clerical regime to power. Both were founding members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC.

After the revolution, Venezuela was one of the first to recognize Iran’s new regime. The relationship deepened after Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, became president in 1999.

In the following decades, Iran invested billions in Venezuela’s oil and energy sector, along with other housing and industrial projects that often had little to no financial return, but gave Iran a foothold in America’s backyard.

That opened the door for Hezbollah to make inroads in Venezuela.

How deep are Hezbollah’s ties in the country?

American authorities have long accused Hezbollah of using Venezuela as a base for drug trafficking and money laundering in collusion with Venezuelan officials. But experts say those illicit schemes do not seem critical to Hezbollah’s operations.

Most evidence of the illicit revenue streams stems from a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration initiative launched in 2008 to disrupt Hezbollah’s financing networks. That investigation found that Hezbollah was involved in trafficking cocaine from Colombia through Venezuela and colluding with Venezuelan officials to move cash, contraband and Hezbollah personnel.

One of the investigation’s most prominent resulting criminal indictments involved Ayman Saied Joumaa, who holds dual Lebanese and Colombian citizenship. A federal grand jury indicted him for running one of the region’s most sophisticated international drug smuggling and money laundering networks. Mr. Joumaa, who was never arrested, has not publicly commented on the charges.

Hezbollah made millions through Mr. Joumaa’s network, according to American authorities.