The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has arrested several members of Hezbollah, including Mohamad Noureddine, who was placed under sanctions last week by the U.S. Treasury for laundering money for the terrorist organization.

The individuals arrested are believed to include leaders of Hezbollah’s European operations. They stand accused of using millions of dollars from the sale of cocaine in the United States and Europe to buy weapons in Syria.

The arrests were the result of a year-long investigation that included support from seven countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Belgium.

“This ongoing investigation spans the globe and involves numerous international law enforcement agencies in seven countries, and once again highlights the dangerous global nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism,” the DEA said in a statement.

The effort formed part of DEA’s Project Cassandra, which targeted a global Hezbollah network responsible for the movement of large quantities of cocaine in the United States and Europe.

The drug network was established by Imad Mughniyah, the global operations chief of the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group, who died in a bomb blast in Damascus on February 12, 2008, reportedly in a joint Mossad-CIA operation that required special approval from US president George W. Bush.

It is currently controlled by Abdallah Safieddine and another high-profile terror suspect, Adham Tabaja, according to the DEA.

The international probe focusing on the terror group’s links with South American drug cartels began a year ago, uncovering a network of couriers who collected and transported millions of euros in drug proceeds from Europe to the Middle East. Large amounts passed through Lebanon en route to terror organizations such as Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country’s bloody war.

“DEA and our international partners are relentless in our commitment to disrupt any attempt by terrorists and terrorist organizations to leverage the drug trade against our nations,” said DEA Acting Deputy Administrator Jack Riley.

“DEA and our partners will continue to dismantle networks who exploit the nexus between drugs and terror using all available law enforcement mechanisms.”

Hebzollah is designated a terror group by the US, Israel and a number of Sunni Arab states. The EU recently declared the group’s military wing a terror organization, but left its political arm off the blacklist.

Separately, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions last week targeting Hezbollah’s financial support network by designating Hezbollah-affiliated money launderers Mohamed Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine, as well as Noureddine’s company Trade Point International S.A.R.L, for providing financial services to or in support of Hezbollah. As a result of Treasury’s action, all assets of the designated individuals or entities that are located in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

This effort is part of DEA’s Project Cassandra, which targets a global Hezbollah network responsible for the movement of large quantities of cocaine in the United States and Europe.

Beginning in February 2015, based on DEA investigative leads, European authorities initiated an operation targeting the network’s criminal activities in that region. Since then, law enforcement authorities, closely supported by DEA, have uncovered an intricate network of money couriers who collect and transport millions of euros in drug proceeds from Europe to the Middle East.

The currency is then paid in Colombia to drug traffickers using the Hawala disbursement system. A large portion of the drug proceeds was found to transit through Lebanon, and a significant percentage of these proceeds are benefitting terrorist organizations, namely Hezbollah.

Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated: “Hezbollah needs individuals like Mohamad Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine to launder criminal proceeds for use in terrorism and political destabilization. We will continue to target this vulnerability, and expose and disrupt such enablers of terrorism wherever we find them.”

“These drug trafficking and money laundering schemes are responsible for devastating terror attacks around the world,” said Jack Riley. “DEA and our international partners are relentless in our commitment to disrupt any attempt by terrorists and terrorist organizations to leverage the drug trade against our nations. DEA and our partners will continue to dismantle networks who exploit the nexus between drugs and terror using all available law enforcement mechanisms.”