NCJ Number
228702
Journal
Global Crime Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 248-260
Date Published
August 2009
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined economic, financial, and exchange activities between Chechen separatists and al-Qaeda fighters along the Chechnya-Georgian border between 1999 and 2002.
Abstract
Findings reveal that Chechen financing is a complex mixture of global and national trends, and the everyday realities of the individual participants involved. This study examined the financing of Chechen separatists and foreign jihadist fighters in this region of Georgia. Data were collected from fieldwork conducted in the Republic of Georgia through interviews, documentary sources, and open sources, especially local news reports. Terrorist expenditures in this region focused on weapons purchases, cross-border smuggling of fighters, training, and day-to-day needs, including food, medicine, and clothing. The money needed to support these purchases had a variety of origins, including direct, international funding, criminal activities, and legitimate commerce. Substantial funds originate from the Middle East and Islamic world, primarily Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, and Yemen. Chechen terrorists also engaged in a large number of criminal schemes to generate money for their cause, particularly the production and trafficking of heroin.