The son of Suriname’s president has been charged by the United States with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation.

The Shia militants were planning attacks on the US and the Netherlands, Suriname’s former colonial ruler, US prosecutors say. In July the EU only reluctantly blacklisted Hezbollah’s Military Wing.

Dino Bouterse, who held himself out to be the commander of Suriname’s counter-terrorism unit, agreed to allow a large number of Hezbollah operatives to use the South American nation as a permanent base for attacks on U.S. targets, according to a revised indictment unsealed today in federal court in Manhattan. Dino Bouterse was allegedly paid millions of dollars to provide a base and weapons for Hezbollah fighters.

Bouterse, who was arrested in Panama on Aug. 29, was previously charged alongside a second suspect with conspiring to charged with trying to smuggle cocaine and weapons into the United States. Mr Bouterse was arrested in Panama, while travelling on a diplomatic passport, and quickly handed over to the US authorities.

Two confidential Drug Enforcement Administration sources who said they were connected to a Mexican narcotics trafficking organization met with Bouterse about nine months and he told them he could help run drugs and obtain weapons in Suriname, according to the indictment.

“Alleged criminals like Bouterse and his facilitators pose a direct threat to the safety and security of the United States,” the administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Michelle Leonhart said.

At a meeting in Greece, Mr Bouterse reportedly accepted $2 million to help Hezbollah fighters settle in Suriname, give them passports and arm them with surface-to-air missiles and other weapons. Mr Bouterse reportedly told them he would present within two months a list of the weapons he could provide.

The US vs Bouterse et al. Indictment supports the evidence for the cooperation of terror organizations with organized crime groups. A November 2012 study commissioned by the EU revealed that certain linkages between OC and terrorism exist in the EU. Trends suggest that these linkages will continue to develop.The cooperation between Hezbolla and various organized crime groups was specifically mentioned.

The US vs Bouterse et al. Indictment also supports the findings in the “Nisman Report”.

Hezbollah is a terrorist organization which also acts as an “International Organized Crime Group”. Hezbollah is partnering with drug syndicates from Mexico and South America to supply drugs via Africa to Europe. Evidence suggests Hezbollah is actively involved in the trafficking of South American cocaine to fund its operations.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison in Surinam in 2005, after being found guilty of trafficking in drugs, weapons and stolen luxury cars. But Mr Bouterse was released three years later for good behaviour and was later named director of Suriname’s Counter Terrorist Unit.

His father, Desi Bouterse, a former coup leader, was elected president of Suriname in 2010. In 2000, President Bouterse was convicted in absentia of drug trafficking by a court in the Netherlands.
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