Sanctions Against Syrian Drug Smugglers Sought by House Members
After the administration reported on its strategy to disrupt narcotics trafficking linked to the Syrian regime, including its sanctions against Samer Kamal al-Assad and Khalid Qaddour, a key drug producer and facilitator, respectively, of captagon production in Syria, two members of the House of Representatives introduced a bill directing the administration to impose sanctions on more Syrian players in the production and sale of the amphetamine-like stimulant.
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The legislation sponsored by Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., directs the administration to determine if Maher Al Assad, Imad Abu Zureiq, Amer Taysir Khiti, Taher al-Kayyali, Raji Falhout, Mohammed Asif Issa Shalish, Abdellatif Hamid and Mustafa Al Masalmeh should be sanctioned. The bill's text was published this week.
"Assad is a transnational drug kingpin whose captagon drug is devastating families in the region and fueling his terror partnership with Iran and Hezbollah with billions in illegal funding, " Hill said in a press release announcing the bill's introduction. Moskowitz said in the same release: “We have witnessed the re-emergence of the Assad regime since they began leveraging the sale of this dangerous drug. Not only will new sanctions help reduce the illegal sale of captagon from making its way to the United States, but it will also further weaken the Assad regime and the terrorist organizations they fund.”
The administration said in its report that in addition to OFAC designations for six individuals and two entities in March, "the Department of State is continuing to work with OFAC and other interagency partners to identify key persons connected with the captagon trade who could be sanctioned under our various authorities, including the Caesar Act. The United States will work to coordinate these efforts with like-minded countries."
The bill says there is ministerial-level complicity in captagon production and smuggling. It also says the administration should sanction anyone who either is involved in production, sales or shipping of captagon, or has received "property" that the person knows was derived from those activities.
If the bill becomes law, the administration must promulgate regulations to implement it within 120 days.