US prosecutors have charged three alleged Al Qaeda associates with trying to set up a drug trafficking ring in Africa to help finance terror operations across the globe.

"Today's allegations reflect the emergence of a worrisome alliance between Al Qaeda and transnational narcotics traffickers," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement Friday. "As terrorists diversify into drugs, however, they provide us with more opportunities to incapacitate them and cut off the funding for future acts of terror."