Bribes, criminal disputes and an international network of drug smuggling that is estimated to bring in billions of dollars.
It may sound like the new season of South American crime drama, but this reality takes place about an hour's drive from the Golan Heights.
A recent study published in the German "De Spiegel" sheds light on the Syrian drug empire.
A dramatic trial has been going on in North Rhine-Westphalia in northern Germany for several years.
The prosecution is trying to prove that what appears to be a standard drug gang is in fact part of a branching network headed by the Syrian ruler's tribe - Bashar al-Assad, the dictator who suppressed the 2011 uprising and whose people massacred his people.
It is suspected that the regime in Damascus generates a significant portion of its revenues through international trade in the stimulant drug captagon, which is especially popular in Arab countries.
At the center of the trial are indictments against Iyad Si, two Syrian citizens and an Algerian citizen.
In recent years, security officials in various countries have been able to thwart huge shipments of Captagon by sea.
For example, on July 1, 2020, 84 million bullets were seized in the Italian port of Salerno.
Their estimated value was one billion euros.
In April 2020, Egyptian customs in Port Said discovered a shipment of captagon and hashish, stored in 19,000 bullets.
The container belonged to a Syrian company owned by Rami Makhluf, Assad's cousin who has since clashed with him.
Mahluff denied that he was connected to the company.
Huge deliveries
In March 2021 a huge shipment of 94.8 million Captagon bullets was unveiled in Malaysia.
Additional shipments have been uncovered at ports in Europe, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The drugs are gaining popularity among young people in the Gulf states.
However, the Captagon is also common among terrorist organizations in the Middle East, allowing terrorists to feel "invincible."
In Saudi Arabia, this is a real blow, with an estimated 40% of drug users consuming Captagon.
Captagon bullets are destroyed in Yemen.
The drug is popular among terrorist organizations, Photo: IPI
John Raibren, the former US envoy to Syria, estimated in an interview with the German newspaper that "the Assad regime will not survive the loss of revenue from the Captagon." .
It is estimated that in 2021 the value of drug shipments was $ 5.7 billion.
This is a huge gap compared to the exports of the Assad regime, which amounts to several hundred million dollars a year.
The investigation in Germany may prove that Iyad C is at the center of the cartel.
According to the lawsuit, it is related to drug shipments worth 130 million euros.
His partners include a Syrian citizen named Muhammad B., who is suspected of having such a close relationship with Assad's men that he was allowed to live in a luxury neighborhood in Damascus before fleeing to Germany.
This is after he was apparently suspected of cheating on his partners.
Its people are also involved in trade in Syria.
Nasrallah, Photo: E.
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It is estimated that the cartel around Iyad operated closely with the Assad regime.
Among other things, evidence was based according to which two of the four defendants held key positions in the port of Latakia in western Syria, from which the drug shipments depart.
It also emerged that continued trade despite the boycotts indicated significant production capacity.
Muhammad B. even bragged about his ties with Assad's men.
The investigation also revealed that the crime empires of Assad's cousins, Hezbollah members and local criminals clashed with each other from time to time.
Evidence of this could be found in reports of a Hezbollah man killed in Syria after quarreling with a soldier in Assad's army.
Key figures
One of the key figures in the Syrian drug empire is Maher Assad.
German investigators believe that the Fourth Division has in recent years become a criminal corporation with a military arm that guards the shipments.
This is in addition to the control of the brigade's soldiers over the port of Latakia.
At the same time, Maher's deputy - General Gassan Bilal - is considered responsible for the operations and the connection with Hezbollah.
According to the investigation, some of the leaders of the drug empire came from the Christian city of Seydania north of Damascus.
In the past they were the heads of a small crime family that received a green light from Assad to devour local businessmen with the outbreak of the Civil War.
The point is that the city will remain a stronghold of the regime and will not join the revolt.
The criminals were mainly engaged in looting and extortion until they discovered the Captagon.
Even then - the goal sanctified the means.
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