The infamy we attribute to terrorist
groups defined as being volatile,
barbaric, and immeasurably reckless
certainly rings true. However, it isn’t
as popularly considered that in
addition to these adjectives,
terrorism, like any other form of
organized crime, is also highly
strategic, deliberate, and calculative.
Much of the strength of terrorist
organizations lies in the
interdependency they create between
themselves and the region in which
they operate. Economic
interdependency in particular is what
makes these forces of violence and
hate so difficult to combat; they
become embedded in a region and
the spoils of their crimes – literally
the profits gained from acts of
terrorism – are gained through the
tactical victimization of large
populations and local institutions.
There is great power in dirty money.
Much of what’s secured the reign of
terror these extremist and murderous
contingents have executed for years
is the huge profits their crimes rake
in. Extortion, assassination,
kidnapping, human trafficking,
counterfeiting, and drug trade (to
name a few of their criminal
activities) amount to a considerable
amount of cash. This in many ways
marks terrorism as being in fact a
business, and a successful one at
that.
Several of the most infamous names
in terrorism that we’ve come to learn
about in recent years have
maintained their high-stakes game of
power through being strongly
financially supported. Multimillion
dollar donations to terrorist groups by
other terrorist organizations,
sympathizing political parties, and
even governments themselves are not
unheard of and if it’s not the profit
gained from theft and murder that’s
to be had, it’s the financial support
procured from affiliates that maintain
terrorism as a moneymaking
enterprise.
‘Money makes the world go round’ by
making its rounds around the world.
When we consider how ill gotten cash
circulates and becomes recycled into
the community from which it’s
profited (and inevitably the rest of the
world amidst growing globalization),
it’s well understood that the cost of
crime is a higher tax than we can
continue to afford.
With that said, it becomes a point of
interest to learn which terrorist
groups profit the most from their
crimes against humanity. Of course,
it’s difficult to trace sums of money
that aren’t meant to be traced, and for
this reason, most of the dollar sums
we hear of are estimates when it
comes to documenting the richest
terrorist groups. Nonetheless, we’ve
ranked some of the wealthiest
terrorist organizations out there,
according to educated estimates
reported in the media, bringing to
light the dark reality of the profits
they’ve reaped at the expense of other
people’s lives.
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7. Boko Haram: Over $70 million
via actforamerica.org
The Boko Haram are a Nigerian
terrorist group who fight to overthrow
the Nigerian government in order to
implement an Islamist regime. They
have bombed UN headquarters and
most recently abducted over 200
Nigerian school girls in defense of
their namesake “Western Education is
Sin”. Since they’ve remained off the
radar since their recent attacks, it’s
unclear just how much money they
make from their numerous
kidnappings and the subsequent
ransoms they procure. It has been
determined, however, that between
2006-2011, they collected over $70
million.
6. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba: $100 million a
year
via gg2.net
The Lashkar E Taiba, who call like to
call themselves the “Army of The
Righteous”, was founded in the
1990′s. They’re a militant group
originating from Pakistan who also
wreak havoc on India. Hypocritically
enough, apart from raging war and
killing hundreds of civilians, they also
establish several charitable
organizations in Pakistan, like
hospitals and schools. Regardless,
their extremist ideals and murderous
ways of executing them render them
a deadly threat. Their annual revenue
is estimated to be around $100
million, much of which is funded
through donations from affiliate
parties.
5. FARC: $80-$350 million a year
via ebarrongts.wordpress.com
The Marxist guerrilla group,
Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia—People’s Army (FARC) has
been around since the 1960’s.
They’ve been dubbed a terrorist
threat in their country due to the
numerous kidnappings,
assassinations, and bombings
they’ve executed on Columbian
citizens in the name of anti-
imperialism. Apart from the money
the make from collecting ransoms
and through extortion, FARC also
produces and sells vast quantities of
illegal drugs that further fuel their
high annual revenue.
4. Al-Qaeda: Over $100 million a
year
via nypost.com
Founded by Osama Bin Ladin, the
global Islamist militant organization,
Al-Qaeda, a name which translates
to ‘The Base” has been around since
the 1980s. Having attacked several
civilian and military regions, Al-
Qaeda is well known around the
world as one of the largest and
deadliest terrorist groups. Suicide
bombings are among their favorite
tactics of destruction. What makes
this group such a tough force to
combat, is the fact that they have
wide-spread, terrorist group allies.
Before their 9/11 attack on the World
Trade Center in New York City, the
CIA estimated that Al-Qaeda made
well over $30 million a year, raised
mostly through donations; today,
that number has surely increased. Bin
Ladin was himself a multimillionaire
at the time he founded the
organization and about $10-15
million was reportedly paid annually
to the Taliban while he was leader.
3. Taliban: Over $400 million
via mirror.co.uk
The infamous Taliban of Afghanistan
secures the obscenely profitable
annual revenue of over $400 million
from expansive drug trade, human
trafficking, extortion, as well as a
large amount of donations from
foreign organizations that support
their ill-gotten empire. The Taliban
are responsible for a huge opium
production operation in Afghanistan
that heavily contributes to an
estimated $70-$400 million that they
rake in annually from illicit drug trade
alone.
2. IRA: Over $450 million
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has
been dubbed one of the more
prominent professional money
laundering organizations in Europe.
Originating as a revolutionary group
fighting for Irish independence from
Britain, the IRA fought for political
control for several decades. They are
considered a terrorist group due to
countless bombings and
assassinations attributed to them
during the revolt against imposing
British rule in Ireland. They now own
numerous small businesses
throughout the UK and allegedly use
the profits to fuel their criminal acts,
according to Ireland’s organized
crime task-force. The IRA also builds
significant revenue through drugs, tax
fraud, robberies, smuggling and
counterfeiting.
In 2013, the Irish Independent
reported that the IRA were connected
to the Italian mafia to the tune of 450
million euro in property assets – this
is only one link that has been made
public, and prompts theorizing as to
the groups further mafia links both in
Italy and elsewhere. It has been
estimated – as per a 2005 Guardian
report – that the IRA have made the
equivalent of $17 million yearly in
organised crime operations like
smuggling.
Since the ceasefire in Ireland as a
result of the Good Friday Agreement
in 1999, the group are officially
decommissioned and in 2005 they
announced an official end to their
campaign, but reports of illegal,
underground money-making
activities spearheaded by the group
persist.
1. ISIS: $2 billion
via nbcnews.com
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,
more commonly known as ISIS –
which was once a part of Al Qaeda –
has been dubbed the richest terrorist
group to date. The jihadist militant
group has recently made headlines
after one of their most prominent
leaders (who was captured by Iraqi
officials) spilled the secrets of their
exploits and uncovered the grim
reality of their obscene wealth. ISIS is
worth an estimated $2 billion, much
of this money coming from looted
weapons and bank robberies. Having
stripped a broken Syria of its oil
reserves and even priceless artifacts
from archaeological sites, ISIS has
secured an enormous wealth from
crime. The group comprised of
thousands of members is still a very
active threat, having killed thousands
of civilians and government agents
and still running rampant within a
highly sophisticated infrastructure.
They are, it is believed, the richest
terrorist organisation in the world
today by a large margin.
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