A specialized team from the FBI has arrived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to investigate a sophisticated money-laundering network allegedly funneling millions of euros to Hezbollah. Led by Colin McGuire, the agency’s West Africa Director, the investigation is targeting specific Lebanese business circles established in the Ivorian capital. The probe is being conducted in close coordination with Ivorian intelligence services and the regional FBI office in Dakar, following a tip-off from Morocco’s external intelligence agency, the DGED.
Western intelligence agencies have significantly increased their scrutiny of financial flows from West Africa since the escalation of conflict in the Middle East in late 2023. Ivory Coast, home to a prominent and economically influential Lebanese diaspora, has long been a focal point for investigators tracking “pro-Hezbollah” influence. The current investigation seeks to determine if legitimate businesses are being used as fronts for Hawala-style transfers or other unregulated banking methods to bypass international sanctions on the Lebanon-based group.
This sensitive operation comes on the heels of several successful counter-terrorism efforts in the region, including the July 2024 dismantling of an Islamic State cell in Ivory Coast. The U.S. State Department considers Hezbollah a global terrorist organization and has frequently warned that its financial tentacles reach deep into West African trade hubs. Ivorian authorities have remained largely tight-lipped about the ongoing probe, but insiders suggest that several bank accounts have already been frozen as investigators trace the “metes and bounds” of the illicit financial trail.
