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Itongadol.- Police in Peru will press charges against a Lebanese man arrested in Lima last month, after he was found with traces of explosives and admitted to being a member of the Hezbollah terrorist group.
According to a Reuters report, the precise charges against the man, identified as Mohammed Amadar, have not been revealed, but Israeli intelligence figures have repeatedly warned that Hezbollah has been actively seeking out Israeli and Jewish targets for attacks outside of the Middle East.
The Iranian-backed Shia Islamist group is known to have a strong presence in South America, where it allegedly draws a lot of its finances from the illegal drug trade. US intelligence officials have highlighted neighboring Brazil, as well as Paraguay and Argentina, as areas with particularly high Hezbollah activity.
Peru\’s police director Jorge Flores confirmed Amadar was found with traces of explosives when he was arrested on October 28.
"He has accepted being a member of Hezbollah," he told reporters. "The investigation has concluded and corresponding paperwork will be processed. Today he is going to be made available to the attorney\’s general office as a detainee."
Flores said the suspect had attempted to pass himself off as a citizen of Sierra Leone using forged documents.
A report in the La Republica at the time of his arrest claimed that the Mossad had tipped off Peruvian authorities about Amadar and alleged plans he had to attack Israeli targets.