Germany detains Hezbollah supporter acquiring drone engines

Published: JULY 15, 2024 17:57

Updated: JULY 16, 2024 16:42

German special police secures the area as they search for long-sought members Ernst Volker S. and Burkhard G. of Germany's notorious Red Army Faction (RAF) militant group, after decades on the run from armed robbery and attempted murder charges, in Berlin, Germany, March 3, 2024 (photo credit: Christian Mang/Reuters) — German special police secures the area as they search for long-sought members Ernst Volker S. and Burkhard G. of Germany's notorious Red Army Faction (RAF) militant group, after decades on the run from armed robbery and attempted murder charges, in Berlin, Germany, March 3, 2024

(photo credit: Christian Mang/Reuters)

Reports indicate that the Lebanese individual was buying the UAV parts for future attacks on Israel.

A man was detained in Germany Monday on suspicion of being linked to Hezbollah and acquiring parts for drones, according to reports in German media, as well as Reuters and AFP.

“The engines were to be used in attacks on Israel. The Lebanese man is in custody,” Tagesspiegel reported. Since October 8 when it began to attack Israel, Hezbollah has used hundreds of drones, which have become increasingly deadly in the last months.

According to the reports, the man was detained in the German state of Lower Saxony in central Germany. A man named “Fadel Z. is said to have procured components for military drones on behalf of Hezbollah,” Tagesspiegel added. The man is Lebanese and was living in Salzgitter, a city of around 100,000 people that has a large population of Middle Eastern immigrants.

The man was detained based on suspicion that he is a member of a terrorist organization, Tagesspiegel noted, adding that he “was brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice on Monday, who executed the arrest warrant.” According to the reports, he had joined Hezbollah in 2016, and it was not clear how long he had resided in Germany.

Intending to attack Israel

Iran has long sought to bolster its drone program by procuring dual use components from Europe and the West, including engines; it makes sense that Hezbollah would replicate this model. By using middlemen or shell companies, engines and other components can be acquired and sometimes shipped to third parties or third countries, before making their way to places like Lebanon, Iran, or Yemen.

Damage in a KKL-JNF forest due to attacks by Hezbollah. (credit: KKL-JNF Staff and Foresters.)

Iranian kamikaze Shahed 136 drones, that were exported to Russia in 2022, were found to have components acquired from Europe; the drones were used to attack Ukrainians. The Guardian in England noted that “Iranian kamikaze drones used in the latest attacks on Ukrainian cities are filled with European components, according to a secret document sent by Kyiv to its western allies in which it appeals for long-range missiles to attack production sites in Russia, Iran and Syria.”

German-made engines are known for their high quality. A Conflict Armament Research investigation previously found that “in 2006, German Limbach Flugmotoren L-550 UAV engines were illicitly exported to Iran. By 2009, [Iran’s] Mado CEO Yousaf Aboutalebi – who has since been sanctioned – was advertising that his then unnamed company had successfully manufactured a domestic UAV engine.”

Hezbollah had recently said it used the Shahed 101 Iranian-style drone in attacks on Israel. The terrorist group has thousands of drones and has increased their range and precision. Hezbollah needs good components to produce quality drones that can carry out the kinds of attacks it is seeking to do. Illegally acquiring parts from places in Europe would make sense for Hezbollah, and be in line with how Iran has made drones over the last two decades.