​​​​​​​Production and smuggling of Captagon ... US sanctions against personalities, including relatives of Bashar al-Assad

 The US Treasury Department said in a statement that today, Tuesday, the United States imposed new sanctions on six people, including two relatives of Bashar al-Assad, for their role in producing or exporting the dangerous stimulant, Captagon.

 The ministry said that "trafficking in Captagon generates profits estimated at billions of dollars, and that the sanctions shed light on the role of Lebanese smugglers and the dominance of the Assad family over the trade of this dangerous stimulant, which contributes to the financing of the Syrian government."

 "Syria has become a world leader in the production of the addictive Captagon, much of which is smuggled through Lebanon," said Andrea M. Jackie, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

"Together with our allies, we will hold accountable those who support Bashar al-Assad's regime with the profits of illegal drug trafficking and other financial methods that enable the regime to continue oppressing the Syrian people," it added.

 Among those sanctioned are Samer Kamal al-Assad, a cousin of Bashar who the Treasury Department said oversees major Captagon production facilities in Latakia, Syria, and Wassim Badie al-Assad, another cousin whom the Treasury has accused of supporting the Syrian army and being a key figure in a regional drug-trafficking network.

 Also among the punished was Khaled Kaddour, who the Treasury Department said was a Syrian businessman and close associate of Maher al-Assad, the Syrian president's brother and commander of the army's fourth division.

 The Treasury Department also targeted Lebanese, some of whom are linked to Hezbollah, including Noah Zuaiter and Hassan Dago.

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