UN: Drug smuggling is a major source of funding for the Houthis

The United Nations has confirmed that drug smuggling is a major source of funding for the Houthis, which reap millions of dollars from it, similar to what extremist organizations loyal to Iran are doing in the region, such as Hezbollah and the Shiite movements in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

The report of the United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen said that cases of smuggling of drugs, precious metals and banknotes were monitored with the direct and indirect participation of the Houthis to obtain funds for use in the  "war effort".

The panel received information about an increasing number of drug smuggling and trafficking incidents in Yemen and the authorities confiscating some shipments, as well as reports of the involvement of pro-Houthi inviduals on international sanctions lists.

The report referred to several seizures carried out by the Saudi authorities, especially in Al-Wadiah, Al-Khadra, Alab, Al-Tuwal, and the port of Jizan.

The UN team received several reports of regular interceptions of dhows carrying drug shipments that were not investigated by any Member State due to the lack of a clear legal jurisdiction.

The report stresses the need for UNSC members to consider adopting appropriate legal instruments that allow for the proper investigation of drug trafficking cases discovered by international navies and coast guards in international waters so that the competent authorities can bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Hezbollah continue to smuggle advanced weapons, missiles, fuel, and drugs to the Houthi militia, with the aim of prolonging the war, obstructing any political negotiations, and aborting any chances for a peaceful solution to the conflict, as well as blackmailing the international community and using the crisis of Yemen as a bargaining chip and political pressure in the region's crises and threatening the security of Yemen and neighboring countries and maritime security in the region.

Over the past years, the American, British and international forces have succeeded in thwarting many smuggling operations of drugs, weapons, ammunition, missile components and communication systems to the Houthis in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Yemeni border guards and security forces have also succeeded in seizing shipments of drugs, smuggled weapons and communications equipment through roads and land ports inside Yemen, and even arresting foreign and Yemeni elements involved in these operations that violate Yemeni laws and are criminalized by international law.