Terror organization: Hezbollah
Status: Commander of the Foreign Relations unit in Latin America (He is in Brazil, Khalil Rizk is now in Lebanon).
Role: Known as the highest representative of Hezbollah in South America, a role he allegedly undertook at the request of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Wehbe relays information and instructions between Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon and Hezbollah operatives in South America. Additionally, Wehbe has also fundraised for Hezbollah and conveyed funds from Brazil to the terrorist group in Lebanon. He has also overseen Hezbollah’s counterintelligence activities in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. He is designated by the US.
Wehbe continues his operations in Brazil as well as in the region of the Latin American continent, using his status – a prominent Islamic cultural leader, in order to make it tougher for the law enforcement agencies to act against him as the excuse of freedom of religion. Wehbe freely serves as the imam of the Brás Mosque in São Paulo and as a leader of the Centro Islâmico no Brasil (Islamic Center of Brazil). It is possible to find him in events involved the mosques and even political ones.
Location: Brazil
Also Known As: Shaykh Bilal Mohsen Wehbi; Shaykh Bilal Mohsen Wahbi; Shaykh Bilal Muhsin Wihbi; Sayyid Muhsin Bilal Wahbi; Bilal Mohsem Wehbi; Bilal Muhsin Wahbi; Bilal Wahbe;
Brazilian Passport: CZ74340
Brazilian Identification Number: 7-768-804-8
Lebanese Passport: 0083628
DOB: January 7, 1967
Residence: Avenida Jose Maria de Brito 929, Centro, Foz Do Iguacu, Parana State, Brazil
Activities:
As Hizballah’s chief representative in South America, Bilal Mohsen Wehbe has relayed information and direction between Hizballah leaders in Lebanon and Hizballah elements in South America. He has also overseen Hizballah’s counterintelligence activity in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
Wehbe has been involved in transferring funds collected in Brazil to Hizballah in Lebanon. Following Hizballah’s conflict with Israel in 2006, Wehbe and Ali MuhammadKazan, identified by Treasury as a SDGT in December 2006, raised more than $500,000 for Hizballah from Lebanese businessmen in the TBA. Wehbe also has worked for the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose regime provides the majority of Hizballah’s budget.