 On October 21, 2008, the "Los Angeles Times" reported that an international cocaine smuggling and money laundering ring with alleged connections to Hezbollah was dismantled in Colombia.It is claimed that 12% of the group's profits went to fund Hezbollah, although no dollar figure was specified.A separate report claimed that the joint operations between the United States and Colombia resulted in the arrest of nearly 130 individuals suspected of being members of a cell formed from an alliance among a famous Colombian drug syndicate known as "North Valley", an armed leftist militant organisation composed by former and current members of FARC, and a group of smugglers of Lebanese origin.