"In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project about the current violent threats posed by Islamic radicals, and right-wing and left-wing extremist groups.

Drawing on his expertise as senior director of the Counter Extremism Project and years of diplomatic service, Hans names the extremist organizations that currently threaten to unleash global violence"

“You won't hear me say this is a lost war. However, we should be aware that it will happen. Fentanyl is like playing Russian roulette. We cannot ignore the alarm signals in Europe today. And it's already ringing… The opinion of the Spanish researcher confirms the argument presented by Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of Counter Extremism. In his view , the ban on the Taliban is an attempt to maximize profits while inducing a false sense of security in the international community. In 2021, a kilogram of dry opium cost an average of $63, while a year after the introduction of the ban, it already cost $408, and at the beginning of 2024 it cost more than $1,200.” 

"Selling illegal drugs in Europe is a quick way for Hezbollah to raise money because of ample demand and supply, according to Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, a U.S.-German nonprofit policy organization.

“Europe is the largest consumer of cocaine worldwide, bigger than the United States, so the demand is there,” said Schindler, a former U.N. Security Council and German government official."

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler quoted: "Another source of income for Hezbollah is criminal business - for example, extortion of Lebanese businessmen abroad. "By repeatedly reminding Lebanese businessmen abroad, but also Lebanese communities, that a fee must be paid for the good cause," explains Schindler. There are some "who do it voluntarily, others who don't - but in the end you have to pay.""

“... The video is still being reviewed, says Hans-Jakob Schindler, Counter Extremism Project expert and former UN Security Council adviser on global terrorism sanctions. But it is obvious that the attack followed the IS script: "With such attacks, which are difficult to detect in advance, IS is showing that it is still important." In 2017, IS lost its state base in Syria and Iraq, said Schindler. But the group is now on the rise again, for example in Afghanistan and West Africa. The West has withdrawn from the core areas of IS terrorists. "Because the pressure there has decreased, attacks in the West are becoming more likely again ." This raises the question of how terrorists are financed. Although an attack like the one in Solingen - which is presumably inspired by IS but carried out without personal instructions - costs the group nothing, says Schindler. But in Syria, IS is again carrying out more and more bomb attacks.”

"'It is inconceivable that they [the weapons dealers] are not operating on the Houthis’ behalf,' said the former British Ambassador to Yemen, Edmund Fitton-Brown, who now works for the Counter Extremism Project.
'Purely private dealers who tried to profit from supplying, [for example] the government of Yemen, would be quickly shut down.'"

"Edmund Fitton-Brown, the former British ambassador to Yemen who is now a senior adviser to the Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based non-profit organisation, said: 'To me, this is clear material support for terrorism. X has a lamentable history of failing to police itself properly against extremists [and] this is a problem that has clearly got worse since Twitter became X. The very fact that they sell blue tick marks to terrorist groups like the Houthis and the Taliban is obviously a breach of sanctions and a breach of the law.'"