Lara Yazbek wrote in Markazia:
On Tuesday, the United States announced the imposition of new sanctions on supporters of the Syrian regime, due to their relationship with drug trafficking and smuggling. The sanctions included two entities and 6 people, including two Lebanese, according to a statement by the US Treasury, which it published on its website.
The ministry stated that it is estimated that the trade in Captagon, which is a dangerous stimulant, has generated $1 billion for the Syrian regime. And it considered that these sanctions highlight the important role of Lebanese drug traffickers, some of whom maintain ties with Hezbollah, to facilitate the export of Captagon. The sanctions highlighted “the dominance of the family of the leader of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, over the illegal trade in Captagon and the financing of repression in the country,” as the list included Samer Kamal al-Assad and Wassim Badi’ al-Assad.
The sanctions included Hassan Muhammad Dago, who holds dual Syrian and Lebanese nationalities, and is called the “King of Captagon” in the media, in addition to the Lebanese Noah Zaiter, who have close relations with Hezbollah. It affected two Lebanese companies, “Hassan Dakou Trading” and “Al-Israa Corporation for Import and Export”.
Commenting, the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Andrea Jackie, said, “Syria has become a world leader in the production of addictive Captagon, and much of it is smuggled through Lebanon,” stressing that “the United States will hold accountable those who support the Assad regime with illegal drug revenues and other financial means that The regime has been able to continuously suppress the Syrian people.”
It is true that the US sanctions against Lebanese, Syrians and Iranians are not new of their kind. Rather, in recent years, they have become periodically issued, affecting the supporters of terrorism in all its forms, its financiers, and those who cause a breach of regional and international security and stability. However, the timing and “content” of this package were remarkable. . According to what diplomatic sources told Al-Markaziya, these sanctions constitute a message to the Arab and Gulf regional powers that, since the February 6 earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey, have opened channels of communication with the Syrian regime and embarked on the path of normalization with it in preparation for its return to the League of Arab States. They indicate that the American position in particular (and the international one in general) regarding dealing with the Syrian regime remains the same and will not change as long as Bashar al-Assad’s military and “strategic” behavior has not changed.
However, what is worth noting is that the sanctions also come in the wake of the Saudi-Iranian agreement, which is widely reported to have included an emphasis on the need to close all drug factories scattered in the region, especially in Syria and Lebanon, from which shipments of contraband and Captagon originate towards the Arab countries in general and the Gulf and Saudi Arabia in particular. Here, a prominent intersection between American and Gulf priorities proves that the common concern remains to combat the negative effects left by the axis of resistance on the regional scene. And while Washington did not express any decisive and clear position on the “Beijing understanding”, it can be said that the methods of the Kingdom and the American administration may differ – as the first went towards dialogue and the second is still on the option of extremism and sanctions – but their goal is the same.