NCJ Number
118504
Date Published
1989
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides an overview of clandestine channels and networks used to send weapons to various terrorist groups.
Abstract
The Soviet Union allocated $16 billion for arms to the developing world in 1980, a major portion of which went to Cuba. Although most of the modern Soviet equipment remains in Cuba, large quantities of older weapons and related hardware have been shipped to guerrilla groups operating in Central America. Some Soviet-made weapons have also fallen into the hands of Puerto Rican independence groups. Cuba has been known to use narcotics rings to funnel arms and money to terrorists seeking to topple various Latin American governments. Some antiterrorist specialists believe that Cuban intelligence agents were among the boatlift refugees coming to America to achieve various disruptive aims and to enhance Cuba's drug trafficking. Nicaragua has developed a network of arms shipments to Latin American countries similar to Cuba's. Other terrorist weapons networks discovered involve the Irish Republican Army's reception of weapons from private American sympathizers and America's shipment of weapons to guerilla groups fighting communism. The latter has involved the shipment of surface-to-air Stinger missiles that have sometimes fallen into the hands of America's enemies. 17 footnotes.