A little more from Spiegel about the Islamic State, a terrorist group that is also a crime organization, as pretty much all terrorist groups are. Markus Dettmer and Jörg Schindler interview terror expert Louise Shelley about the bankrolling methods of the beheaders. An excerpt:

“Spiegel:

In your new book, Dirty Entanglements: Corruption, Crime and Terrorism, you write that every terrorist success story starts like the establishment of a successful business: with the collection of seed money. In al-Qaida’s case, the money originated from Osama bin Laden’s fortune. Where does Islamic State’s seed money come from?

Louise Shelley:

From two sources. The antecedents of IS received donations from the Gulf States, but now it has smaller, new contributions from many locales. The smuggling routes they are now using were also used during the post-invasion period for low-level smuggling — of cigarettes and pornography.

Spiegel:

Pornography?

Louise Shelley:

Yes, I was also surprised that there was such trade in the region now under IS control. Now, IS is financing itself largely through the oil trade, but also many other activities. It is a diversified criminal operation.

Spiegel:

What sort of activities?

Louise Shelley:

With looted art from the occupied territories, for example. It is sold via Ebay, at art fairs or in premium antiquarian shops in Europe. But that does not really bring in a lot of money because the market is limited. The terrorists think quite broadly about their sources of financial support and the number of potential customers for expensive items is small. IS taxes trade, they make money from the passports sold by foreign fighters, they sell mobile phones, trade in illicit cigarettes and engage in kidnapping as well as human smuggling and trafficking. And, of course, the arms trade. Other terrorist groups make money selling pirated CDs and DVDs. Counterfeit goods, forged passports and documents, the illicit wildlife trade and drugs earn a lot for terrorist groups.”