MADRID, March 28
The United States government on Tuesday announced sanctions against six people, including two relatives of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, accused of drug trafficking, extortion, and supporting the Arab country’s president. war was launched in 2011.
In a statement, the US Treasury Department sanctioned four Syrian citizens – among them Samer Kamal al Assad and Uasim Badi al Assad, cousins of the president – and two Lebanese, including King Hassan Muhamad Daqu. about the teacher
Thus, he indicated that Samer Kamal al Assad “oversees a key production site in Latakia” with elements of the Lebanese Shiite military party Hezbollah, while Uasin Badi al Assad the Fourth Division of the Syrian Army, led by Maher al. Assad is the brother of the president.
The Department of the Treasury defined that Washington “has taken measures in coordination with partners in the United Kingdom” to sanction two Lebanese for “supporting the regime of the Syrian president” and “producing or exporting dangerous amphetamines.”
Likewise, he explained that the sanctions “also highlight the role of Lebanese drug traffickers, some of whom maintain ties with Hezbollah when it comes to facilitating the export of captagon”, before noting that “it is estimated that the trade in captagon has become a multi-billion dollar illegal company”.
“This action also emphasizes the importance of the Al Assad family in the illegal seizure and release of the repressive Syrian regime,” he emphasized.
The director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Andrea Gacki, stated that “Syria has become a global leader in the production of highly addictive captagon, much of which is traded through Lebanon.”
“Together with our partners, we will hold accountable those who support the Assad regime with money derived from illegal drugs and other financial instruments that allow the regime to continue its repression against the people of Syria,” he concluded.
