According to information obtained by Jeune Afrique, a team from the FBI arrived in Abidjan during the week of May 19 to conduct investigations into alleged Hezbollah financing networks amounting to several million euros, involving Lebanese business circles established in Côte d’Ivoire. The investigation is being jointly conducted by Ivorian intelligence services and the regional FBI office based at the U.S. embassy in Dakar.

This highly sensitive case was brought to their attention by Morocco’s external intelligence agency, the General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (DGED), headed by Mohamed Yassine Mansouri.

Islamic State Network Dismantled

Following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, and between Israel and Hezbollah in October 2023, financial transactions from West Africa where a pro-Hezbollah network of influence exists within the Lebanese diaspora have come under increased scrutiny by Western and Moroccan intelligence agencies. In recent months, Côte d’Ivoire has remained under close watch, although the connections between certain Lebanese circles in the country and Hezbollah were considered relatively limited.

Jeune Afrique reports that the FBI team is led by Colin McGuire, the agency’s West Africa Director, who has previously collaborated with Ivorian authorities. Notably, in July 2024, shortly before the Paris Olympics, Côte d’Ivoire dismantled a small group of Islamic State terrorists who had arrived from Iraq to prepare an attack in the French capital.