Active

Terror organization: Hezbollah

Status: Hezbollah financier

Role: Mahdy is the son of Amer Mohamed Akil Rada (Hezbollah senior operative in the Latin American continent for decades), who was part of the squad for the terror attacks in Argentina in 92’ and 94’. He conducts, on Amer’s behalf, business activities in Colombia, almost certainly in an effort to evade detection and circumvent sanctions. Helbawi established a Colombia based charcoal company Zanga S.A.S., which has been the main supplier of companies controlled by individuals in this network, including Amer. Helbawi is the CEO of Zanga S.A.S.

Mahdy, 36 years old, was captured in a residential complex in Cúcuta, a city on the border with Venezuela. Born in Maicao, La Guajira, to Lebanese parents. Akil Helbawi is accused of being the owner of a company belonging to the Hezbollah group, used for money laundering through the export of charcoal from the felling of Guayacán trees. In September 2023, the US Treasury Office included Akil Helbawi and his shell company,Zanga SAS, on the Clinton list, pointing to them as part of an international money laundering and drug trafficking network linked to Hezbollah.

The group is believed to have a substantial presence in South America, as part of its global business dealings, and is suspected of smuggling cocaine and being involved in the illicit economy of the lawless ‘Tri-Border Area’ between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Akil Helbawi as a key figure in the network. Rada clan has played over the years an important role in Hezbollah’s activity in Latin America.

The US Treasury said his father (Amer) has also been involved in the export of charcoal from Lebanon to Colombia, with 80 per cent of the proceeds funding Hezbollah.

Samer Akil Rada (Amer’s brother and Mahdy’s uncle) has also been designated a backed of Hezbollah by the US Treasury, which says he is “actively linked to crimes related to illicit drug trafficking and money laundering in various countries in Latin America”. He was also implicated in the shipment of 500kg of cocaine worth approximately $15 million that was hidden in fruit containers and ultimately seized in El Salvador.

Location: Colombia

Also Known As: Jonathan and Jefe (The Boss)