One of the biggest money-spinners for Islamic State terrorists is transporting illegal drugs from Afghanistan to Europe through Turkey and the Balkans.
ISIS fighters are controlling certain territory. Now it is targeted by the Russian Air Force, but until recently the terrorists enjoyed great freedom there. Trafficking illegal drugs was one of the major sources of their income.
The $500 billion annual income from illegal drug trade was the financial and organizational basis for new terrorist organizations, such as Boko Haram, Islamic State and others. Illegal drugs are a kind of gold and foreign currency reserves for quasi-state groups.
IS made up to $1 billion annually from Afghan heroin trafficked through its territory. He predicted another record-high poppy harvest in the terrorist-controlled lands, and urged countries to raise the issue of fighting the IS drugs trade at the highest international level, including at the UN, saying it represents a global security threat.
So far the heroin transported to the European Union via Turkey and the Balkans yields ISIS about $150 billion for distribution to members of the criminal chain. This money is getting into the criminal turnover and destabilizes the situation in the transit countries. Turkey is exactly such a country.
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