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State and Local Law Enforcement Response to Transnational Crime
by T Task Order

[National Criminal Justice Reference Service - April 2005] ...support for terrorism case and the (2) North Carolina Hezbollah tobacco smuggling case....
Based on our research we learned that there are at least two important issues to consider in identifying transnational crime. First, there are transnational crimes that might mask themselves as “regular” crimes. These are crimes that the police can use traditional investigative techniques to uncover. For example, cases of human trafficking may appear to be simply cases of prostitution, as opposed to victimization of human slaves. The police generally know where to go to find cases of prostitution. However, they may be less likely to realize that a transnational syndicate might be secretly operating the brothels and using the profits to fund terrorist training camps.
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/209521.pdf

The Iranian Plot and the Star Wars bar scene : Foreign Intrigue Blog
Washington, Oct 13, 2011
[...]
Mike Braun, a former top DEA official, explained how terrorists and drug cartel members rub shoulders: "Think of the bar scene in the first Star Wars movie." These guys visit "the same shady bars, the same seedy hotels and the same sweaty brothels" – it’s where the "potpourri of global scum" congregates. That's where the Iranian operative went searching for a drug cartel hit team, he presumed.

Some are downplaying the terrorist-drug cartel links. But we know that Mahmoud Kourani – who according to court documents was a "member, fighter, recruiter and fundraiser for Hezbollah" – hooked up with human traffickers to be smuggled across the southern border. More recently, Mexican authorities arrested Jameel Nasr in Tijuana, Mexico. Reportedly, this Mexican national with family ties to Lebanon, was attempting to set up a Hezbollah network in Mexico and throughout the region. Just isolated cases?

Braun told us, "If terrorism experts believe for one minute that the operatives from these terrorist organizations and drug trafficking organizations, who are occupying the same space at the same time, are not developing relations, forming alliances and sharing lessons learned, then they are naive at best, or more likely, absolutely in the dark when it comes to understanding how the real underworld operates."
http://royce.house.gov/newsblog/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=264269