Lebanese-Syrian national Antione Kassis was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday by the US Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration for his role in a narco-terrorism conspiracy. Kassis was also given a concurrent 20-year sentence for conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terror organization.
Kassis, 59, is a Lebanon-based drug trafficker who used his connections in Syria to traffic both cocaine and weapons. He laundered his earnings through associates in Colombia. It came to light at the trial that Kassis' money-laundering associates in Colombia and elsewhere also worked with organizations such as Hamas and the Sinaloa Cartel.
According to court records and evidence presented at the trial, Kassis agreed to supply military-grade weapons that he had acquired from the Assad regime in Syria to Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) in exchange for hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. The ELN has been classified as a terror organization by several nations, including the United States and Colombia.
During the trial, Kassis claimed to be the cousin of former Syrian President Bashar Assad and that he worked closely with Assad's brother, General Maher Assad, as well as other top regime officials, on the ELN deal.
Where does this case fit into the broader context of US policy and Syria drug smuggling?
The case is part of the US's Operation Take Back America anti-illegal-immigration initiative, which aims to "achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations," according to the DoJ.
Syria has also begun cracking down on drug smuggling since the fall of the Assad regime and the installation of President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
On April 19, the Syrian government’s Interior Ministry forces said that in coordination with the General Intelligence Service, they had “foiled a sabotage plot by a cell linked to the Hezbollah terrorist militia.” A source told Syrian state media SANA that ‘the cell had planned to launch rockets across the border with the aim of undermining stability.”
Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.