Ex-Intel Agent: Hezbollah Terrorists Within Miles of US Border

Hezbollah terrorists have set up a home base just across the Mexican border from San Diego, a former senior intelligence agent has claimed. The group presents a bigger threat to the United States than al-Qaida but so far appears to be lying low, making money from drug-running operations, San Diego’s Channel 10 News reports. www.10news.com/news/27780427/detail.html

"They are recognized by many experts as the 'A' team of Muslim terrorist organizations," the unidentified agent is quoted as saying.

Hezbollah members have blended into Shiite communities in Mexican cities for years but the group has pushed north and now has a base in Tijuana, which is just over the border from the United States 25 miles from San Diego, the former agent said. It partners with drug cartels which pay for its security expertise.

Tunnels that have been built under the border show a level of sophistication that is consistent with Hezbollah’s work in the Middle East, he said.

The agent believes it is unlikely that Hezbollah will start attacking the United States from Mexico in the near future. "The money they are sending back to Lebanon is too important right now to jeopardize those operations.

“But if they really wanted to start blowing stuff up, they could.”

He described Hezbollah as more dangerous than al-Qaida “because of strategic thinking; they think more long term.” Al-Qaida members, he said, “are more shooters than thinkers.”