The Tri-Border Zone is comprised of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, the latter two of which also created a free trade zone in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This brought substantial commercial sales?particularly electronics–to the area, and a flourishing black market, to include more nefarious material like weapons and explosives, unfurled.

The conclusion of World War II noted an influx of Syrians, Palestinians, and notably Lebanese to the Tri-Border Zone. The Lebanese population grew upon the outbreak of civil war in 1975. As the war waged on, groups like Hezbollah ?among the most dangerous terrorist outfits in the world–and Hamas recognized the emigration patterns and send operatives to the Tri-Border Zone to garner support for their causes and to recruit. Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed Islamic group with a significant presence and backing in Lebanon. However, their presence was confirmed in the 1992 car bombing by Hezbollah at the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and again in the 1994 truck bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina that was also linked to Hezbollah . Operatives were thought to have planned their attacks from the Tri-Border Zone. Argentine authoritize blame Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s fugitive security chief, for masterminding the attacks. Uncited US intelligence officers indicated some 460 Hezbollah operatives in the region in mid-2000. Upward of 90% of the Arab populations in Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and Foz do Iguaca (Brazil) are of Lebanese descent.