US places sanctions on 10 people over alleged Hezbollah cash-smuggling ring

The United States has imposed sanctions on 10 individuals accused of facilitating illicit financial flows to Hezbollah. The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday that these individuals allegedly operated a courier network, smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group by carrying cash on commercial flights.

According to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the network enabled Hezbollah to acquire foreign currency and circumvent sanctions outside the traditional banking system. The operation is reportedly connected to the late Behnam Shahriyari, a former finance official within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF).

At the core of the network, as detailed by the department, is Turkish businessman Yunus Alper Yilmaz. He is accused of managing the courier operation, utilizing Turkish currency exchange houses as fronts, alongside shell companies and bank accounts tied to the IRGC-QF. Two individuals, Halil Ibrahim Kacmaz and Onder Dede, are designated for collecting cash from these exchanges on Yilmaz's behalf, while Vasfi Akyuz is identified as a logistics coordinator and courier.

Six other individuals, Mehmet Akyuz, Mehmet Acur, Feyyad Karasalih, Masoud Mousafar, Gulay Kaya Savci, and Emrah Ayaz, are accused of physically transporting the cash to Lebanon via commercial flights. None of the sanctioned individuals are described as widely known public figures.

The sanctions come amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Israel. A State Department spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, stated that the action is part of a broader U.S. campaign against Tehran, aiming to disrupt networks that finance Hezbollah's activities. The investigation leading to these sanctions was conducted in coordination with Turkish authorities.

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The network uses couriers traveling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE and Iran to move hundreds of millions of dollars, enabling the regime to obtain foreign currency illicitly, evade sanctions and fund Hezbollah.