The UK and US have imposed sanctions on those responsible for the
illicit captagon trade in Syria, which is estimated to be worth
up to $57 billion to the Assad regime.
Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine which is used
throughout the Middle East, with 80% of the world’s supply
produced in Syria.
The Syrian regime is closely involved in the trade -
multi-billion dollar shipments leave regime strongholds such as
the Port of Latakia, and President Bashar al-Assad’s brother
Maher al-Assad commands the unit of the Syrian Army facilitating
the distribution and production of the drug.
Trade in the drug is a financial lifeline for the Assad regime -
it is worth approximately three times the combined trade of the
Mexican cartels. The production and trafficking of captagon
enriches Assad’s inner circle, militias and warlords, at the
expense of the Syrian people who continue to face crippling
poverty and repression at the hands of the regime.
The UK and US have today imposed coordinated sanctions on
individuals involved in the trade, with the UK list including
senior regime officials facilitating the trade to the
manufacturers of the drug and key Hizbollah associates
responsible for trafficking it across the Middle East. This
includes prominent businessmen, militia leaders, and relatives of
Bashar al-Assad. These sanctions constitute an asset freeze and
UK travel ban on the individuals concerned.
Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for
the Middle East, said:
“The Assad regime is using the profits from the captagon
trade to continue their campaign of terror on the Syrian
people.
“The UK and US will continue to hold the regime to account
for brutally repressing the Syrian people and fuelling
instability across the Middle East.”
The Assad regime, Hizballah, and other Iranian-backed militia all
facilitate the captagon industry, and in doing so fuel regional
instability and creating a growing addiction crisis across the
region.
The UK remains committed to supporting the Syrian people both in
their quest for accountability and in providing humanitarian
assistance. The UK has provided over £3.8billion in humanitarian
assistance to Syria and the region since the conflict began, our
largest ever response to a single crisis.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The full list of those sanctioned is below:
· Abdellatif
Hamid is a prominent businessperson who utilises his
factories to package captagon pills and has been linked to the
2020 captagon seizure in Salerno, Italy.
· Imad Abu
Zureiq is a militia leader in Southern Syria. His
militia is associated with drugs smuggling as well as
assassinations and kidnappings of political opponents
· Mustafa Al
Masalmeh is a militia leader in Southern Syria. His
militia is involved in drugs production and he has been involved
in assassinating opponents of the Syrian regime.
· Taher Al
Kayali is a business magnate with links to the captagon
industry. He has been tied to multiple captagon seizures,
including in Europe.
· Amer Khiti
is a Syrian politician and operates and controls multiple
businesses in Syria which facilitate the production and smuggling
of drugs, including captagon.
· Hassan Muhammad
Daqqou is known as the “king” or “emperor” of captagon
and is associated with Hizbollah. He has been linked to captagon
seizures in the Middle East, Europe and South East Asia.
· Mohammed
Shalish is involved in the shipping sector in regime
strongholds and has been tied to captagon shipments which have
left the port of Latakia.
· Raji
Falhout is a militia leader in Sweida and uses his
militia headquarters to facilitate captagon production.
· Samer Kamal Al
Asad is related to the Syrian President, and is a
prominent actor in the production of captagon
· Waseem Badia Al
Asad is related to the Syrian President and is a
“strongman” for the Syrian regime. He facilitates the
manufacturing and smuggling of captagon.
· Noah
Zaiter is a prominent person involved in smuggling
captagon and narcotics. He is associated with the Syrian regime
and Hizbollah.
