After Sting Operation, Cousin of Bashar al-Assad Convicted in Arms for Drugs Deal
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- Antoine Kassis, cousin of former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, was convicted in Virginia for plotting to trade military-grade weapons for a container of Colombian cocaine under the cover of fruit sales.
- The trial revealed how the Assad regime, before its 2024 overthrow, financed itself through criminal schemes involving family members, including drug and weapons trafficking.
- Kassis connected Middle Eastern criminal and terrorist groups with Latin American counterparts, working with Hezbollah and Assad family businesses in Lebanon.
- He collaborated with General Maher al-Assad and was involved in illegal amphetamine production, Syria’s top export under the regime.
- Kassis was also in contact with money launderers linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Colombia’s National Liberation Army (E.L.N.), a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
