Overview
- Federal prosecutors charged Lebanese national Fadel Z. with membership in a foreign terrorist organization and with 47 alleged violations of an EU embargo provision.
- The indictment alleges he acquired roughly €1.4 million in drone components for Hezbollah, including more than 2,000 motors and over 600 propellers, using shell and front companies to order, pay and ship parts to Lebanon.
- Prosecutors say two motors he procured were installed in explosive drones fired at Israel, including a strike on a senior care home in Herzliya near Tel Aviv in October 2024 that caused no injuries.
- Investigators contend he operated the procurement network from Spain beginning in 2022 and from Germany from summer 2023, and that Hezbollah provided the funds for the purchases.
- He was arrested by the BKA in Salzgitter in July 2024 and remains in pretrial detention, with related arrests reported in Spain, the United Kingdom and France as part of the wider probe.