US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday issued sanctions on a Lebanese network it accused of smuggling oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to help fund the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

The sanctions target three people, five companies and two vessels that the U.S. Treasury Department said were overseen by a senior leader of Hezbollah's finance team and used profits from illicit LPG shipments to Syria to aid generate revenue for the group.

Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith, in a statement, said Hezbollah "continues to launch rockets into Israel and fuel regional instability, choosing to prioritize funding violence over taking care of the people it claims to care about, including the tens of thousands displaced in southern Lebanon."

(Reporting by Susan Heavey)