The British “Guardian”: The Assad regime has turned Syria into a global center for the manufacture and trade of drugs
The British newspaper, The Guardian, said that the Assad regime and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia are involved in the drug industry and trade in the Middle East and the world, and the extent to which they benefit from it, according to a report issued by the Guardian.
The newspaper stressed, “The drug industry and trade in the Assad regime’s areas is no longer just a widespread criminal activity, but has become the pillar on which the Assad economy is based.”
The newspaper quoted police and intelligence officials in the Middle East and Europe that at least 15 drug shipments have been confiscated in the aforementioned areas during the past two years, all coming from areas under the control of the Assad regime.
The newspaper stated that Samer al-Assad, the cousin of Bashar al-Assad, is one of the most prominent figures responsible for drug smuggling operations through the port of Latakia.
The newspaper, quoting the Center for Operational Research and Analysis (COAR), which focuses its studies on Syria, stated that the areas under the control of the Assad regime are the global center for the production of Captagon.
The center indicated that Captagon exports from the Assad regime-controlled areas amounted to a market value of no less than $3.46 billion.
It is noteworthy that the Assad regime’s control areas have become a starting point and a major center used by the Hezbollah militia, with the help of senior officials of the Assad regime, to smuggle and promote drugs with the aim of providing material support for its crimes against the Syrian people.
