“Terrorists and organized crime join forces”

Terrorist groups and the organized crime networks are increasingly working together, strengthening their ability to inflict harm with conventional weapons today and, maybe, with nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in the future.
Separated for a long time, the criminal and terrorist networks today are united.
The ransom money earned by Aftab Ansari from kidnappings in Dubai helped fund the September 11 attacks and criminals like Indian crime boss Dawood Ibrahim belong to both parties.
In some areas it is impossible to destroy the infrastructures of one of them without facing the other’s. In South Asia and in the Middle East, these links are particularly worrying. Criminal networks have also been used for the nuclear smuggling network of Doctor Khan. Nuclear transfers from Pakistan to North Korea, Libya and Iran could not have occurred without the criminal networks.
Even if states agree to international nonproliferation treaties, the existence of criminal networks could allow proliferation to continue. For their part, criminal gangs can turn to terrorist groups to provide needed training in the use of explosives and to exploit certain territories. In addition, criminal organizations can become ideological over time terrorist groups can carry out criminal actions to finance their activities.
It is essential to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against terrorist networks.