Al-Bawsala – The security services of the Syrian regime have recently raided places in Daraa Governorate, southern Syria, that house factories and presses for the production of Captagon drug pills, but these steps were met with skepticism about the regime’s seriousness in dismantling drug smuggling networks, which facts confirm that they are directly linked to the various security agencies affiliated with them. for him.

Raids and arrests of drug dealers

The Free Houran Gathering, which is, as it defines itself, an “independent media organization that reports the events of southern Syria,” confirmed in a report issued yesterday, Wednesday, that a number of drug manufacturers and smugglers left Daraa governorate after two air strikes, believed to have been carried out by the Jordanian side on May 8. This May, they targeted a Captagon factory, leading to the death of a well-known drug dealer (Marai Ruished Al-Ramthan), who is believed to be behind large-scale smuggling operations from Syria to Jordan. Al-Ramthan was killed along with 6 of his children and his wife in the raid.

According to the Gathering, in the middle of this month, the regime’s security forces “carried out raids, including on the farm of drug dealer Rafie al-Ruwais, between the towns of al-Nada and Ma’rabah in the eastern countryside of Daraa, and arrested two people who were there. He pointed out that security forces raided the Al-Salem compound in the town of Kharab Al-Shahm, belonging to drug dealer Hamad Mahawish Al-Khalidi, known as “Abu Salem Al-Khalidi,” who has been detained for 4 years in the regime’s prisons due to disputes with the regime itself over drug shipments. The gathering indicated that Al-Khalidi’s brother and another person accused of drug trafficking were arrested during the raid that took place on May 14, noting that Al-Khalidi “is linked to the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Fourth Division,” which is led by Maher Al-Assad, brother of the head of the regime, Bashar Al-Assad, and it is one of the most prominent parties accused of manufacturing And smuggling drugs to Arab and European countries.

Al-Hourani: The regime is fighting drug dealers with other dealers in Daraa

In its report, the Assembly mentioned a lot of information and details related to the manufacture of drugs under the supervision of security and military figures affiliated with the regime. A former leader in the opposition factions was quoted as confirming that several manufacturing centers “still exist” in Daraa governorate, noting that “in the Ghazali Tourist Complex located in the town of Qarfa, on the Damascus-Amman international highway, there is one of the most important presses for Captagon pills.” .

The source confirmed that “the operations of manufacturing and smuggling drugs from the al-Ghazali complex are carried out under the direct supervision of Colonel Omar al-Ghazali, and with the full protection of Brigadier General Khardal Dayoub, head of the Air Force Intelligence Department in the city of Daraa.” And he indicated that there are 11 modern presses for the manufacture of Captagon in Daraa, distributed in different areas, including a cream field in Lajat, confirming the existence of small or manual presses, estimated at no less than 80, distributed throughout the governorates of southern Syria (Daraa, As-Suwayda, and Quneitra).

The Syrian regime targets small traders

For his part, the spokesman for the assembly, Abu Mahmoud al-Hourani, told The New Arab that the regime is “fighting drug dealers with other drug dealers in Daraa.” He added, “The raids carried out by the Military Security Service against drug dealers were led by Imad Abu Zureik, who is one of those accused of drug trafficking and smuggling and his name was mentioned on the US sanctions lists that were issued last March, in addition to others, including Mustafa Al-Masalma (Al-Kasm), who is the leader of a group affiliated with of the military security apparatus of the regime in Daraa.

Al-Hourani added, “The Syrian regime’s security services instructed major drug dealers to leave Syria to Lebanon, such as Rafie Al-Ruwais,” considering that the regime “is not serious at all about eliminating drug manufacturing and smuggling networks in southern Syria.” He believed that the regime “could arrest some merchants who do not have a wide influence in the region for media purposes,” adding that its aim is to maneuver.

Yesterday, Tuesday, text messages believed to come from Jordan arrived to people accused of drug trafficking in the governorates of Daraa and As-Suwayda, warning them of a fate similar to that of al-Ramathan, and calling on them to surrender themselves to the Jordanian border guards, in a move confirming Amman’s seriousness in “neutralizing” the leaders of drug smuggling networks in the south. Syrian. Since 2018, the Jordanian army has thwarted thousands of drug smuggling attempts from Syria to Jordan along the 375-kilometer border.

Mohamed Salem: The big merchants and manufacturers are part of the system and are protected by it

In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Ibrahim al-Jabbawi, director of the media office in the Syrian opposition “Negotiations Committee” (he is from Daraa governorate), downplayed the importance of the raids carried out by the security services against factories and presses for drug production. Al-Jabbawi said that the regime raided the homes of individuals from the region who are the tails of the Captagon merchants, stressing that the real merchants are from the militias of Iran and Hezbollah and the officers of the Fourth Division.

The director of the media office in the “Negotiations Committee” expressed his belief that the operations carried out by the regime in Daraa against some drug factories “come in return for the Arab rushing to the bosom of the Captagon king (referring to Bashar al-Assad).” He asked, “What is the benefit of arresting one or more of the executed followers while the factories are still standing and protected and the drug lords are still wreaking havoc in the country?”

In this context, the director of the Policy Analysis Unit at the “Syrian Dialogue” Center for Studies, Muhammad Salem, said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the regime can partially raid small merchants with the aim of showing cooperation with Jordan and Saudi Arabia after returning them to the university.” He added that “big merchants and manufacturers are part of the system and are protected by it.” He stressed that “what the regime is doing is a deceptive step, and a media claim that it is combating drug smuggling.”

The file of drug manufacturing and smuggling from the areas under the control of the Syrian regime is one of the complex files that may have prompted Arab countries to normalize with the regime in exchange for stopping smuggling, which has worsened since 2018 when the regime regained control of the Syrian-Jordanian border and the “Nassib” border crossing with Jordan. It seems that the regime is trying, through its limited operations, to suggest that it is committed to its pledge to the Arab countries to work to stop the flow of narcotic substances to Jordan and from there to the Arab Gulf states.

The regime is also trying to evade the effects of a law approved by the United States of America late last year, which will enter into force in the middle of this year, and its aim is to “combat al-Assad’s drug trafficking and storage.”

Reports published by the American New York Times at the end of 2021, and the German newspaper Der Spiegel in the middle of last year, estimated that drug revenues for the Assad regime amounted to $5.7 billion in 2021 alone.

The New Arab