Syrian authorities arrest Bashar Assad's cousin on drug trafficking charges
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities have arrested a cousin of former President Bashar Assad, who is under U.S. sanctions for his alleged role in drug trafficking and support to forces loyal to the ousted government, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.
The ministry did not say when or where Wassim Badi Assad was arrested. It said that he was wanted in cases of drug trafficking and other crimes before insurgents toppled the Assad family in December after a 54-year rule.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Wassim Assad in March 2023. It said Wassim Assad had publicly called for the formation of sectarian militias to support the government and was a key figure in the regional drug trafficking network, partnering with high-level suppliers to smuggle contraband, Captagon, and other drugs throughout the region.
Syria's conflict that began in March 2011 fragmented the country, crumbled the economy and created fertile ground for the production of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon. Militias, warlords and the Assad government transformed the production of the drug from a small-scale operation run by criminal groups into a billion-dollar industrial revenue stream.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
31 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump: Iran strike ‘spectacular success'
Politics Trump: Iran strike 'spectacular success' June 22, 2025 | 2:19 AM GMT In an address to the nation, President Donald Trump, speaking from the White House on June 21, said U.S. warplanes had struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US Attacks Three Main Nuclear Sites in Iran, Widening Conflict
(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump said American bombers struck Iran's three main nuclear sites, pulling the US directly into the country's conflict despite his longtime promises to avoid new wars. Bezos Wedding Draws Protests, Soul-Searching Over Tourism in Venice One Architect's Quest to Save Mumbai's Heritage From Disappearing JFK AirTrain Cuts Fares 50% This Summer to Lure Riders Off Roads NYC Congestion Toll Cuts Manhattan Gridlock by 25%, RPA Reports Taser-Maker Axon Triggers a NIMBY Backlash in its Hometown Trump said a 'payload of BOMBS' was dropped on Fordow, the uranium-enrichment site buried deep under a mountain and seen as vulnerable only to 'bunker buster' munitions that the US possesses. Natanz and Isfahan, two other sites, were also struck. The president called the operation 'very successful,' adding that the aircraft involved had exited Iranian air space. 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!' he wrote on Truth Social. Trump addressed the nation at 10 p.m. Washington time at the White House. Israel was notified in advance of the strikes, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the strikes, a senior White House official said. The move marks an extraordinary escalation by the president in the week since Israel began airstrikes across Iran and amounts to the most serious foreign-policy decision of his two terms so far. It goes against the advice of US allies in Europe as well as the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, which has repeatedly warned that nuclear facilities must never be attacked given the potential threat to nuclear safety — not to mention radiation leaks. Sign up for our breaking news alerts, and get the biggest stories from around the world delivered to your inbox as they happen. Iran has said it doesn't want a nuclear bomb, and Trump's own intelligence agencies had assessed recently it still hadn't committed to developing such a weapon. Trump, however, had dismissed those findings and had declined to rule out joining the Israeli strikes, which had also killed several prominent Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists. The US strikes could immediately open American assets in the Middle East to attack since Iran had warned it would retaliate if Trump ordered an attack. Trump's combative language in the last couple of days had also triggered new threats from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and led Iranian officials to call the US Israel's 'partner in crime.' Iran's retaliation could also come in the form of cyber attacks against American or Israeli interests by hackers linked to the regime in Tehran. Earlier Saturday, the State Department said the US had begun evacuating US citizens from Israel. The agency organized two flights to Athens from Tel Aviv with about 70 US citizens, family member and permanent residents, it said. 'I hope that the Iranians are measured in their response but there will be a response — this is an act of war by the United States against a foreign country, which has not attacked us lately,' said Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center. 'Americans are at risk all over the Middle East, all over the world.' Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported that authorities in Isfahan confirmed multiple simultaneous explosions in Natanz and Isfahan early Sunday, describing them as 'aggressions' near the two nuclear facilities. Fears of an impending strike had eased after Trump's team said on Thursday he would make a decision within two weeks. On Friday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK had met with Iranian officials Geneva in a bid to prevent a US attack. The continued fighting has evoked fears of a regional conflict that results in massive civilian casualties, and disrupts the flow of energy and other trade through the region. About a fifth of the world's daily oil supply goes through the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbors such as Saudi Arabia. For days, Trump had faced conflicting advice from his supporters, after he campaigned for president on promises to keep the US out of foreign wars, pointing to American involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. MAGA allies including longtime Trump supporter Steve Bannon, have warned against any US intervention, insisting this is Israel's fight to finish. Other Republicans had been urging Trump to join the fight against Iran, arguing that Tehran was more vulnerable after days of air strikes by Israel, and there was an opportunity to deliver on the president's long insistence the regime cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Trump and his advisers had suggested in recent days that any strike would be limited. Trump briefed Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, according to people familiar with the matter. 'This is not the start of a forever war,' Senator Jim Risch, the Idaho Republican and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on X. 'There will not be American boots on the ground in Iran. This was a precise, limited strike, which was necessary and by all accounts was very successful.' Energy experts have raised concerns that crude flows in the region could be imperiled if Iran and its proxies retaliate in response to a US attack. Fears have focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf that is a key transit point for 26% of the world's oil trade. Houthis have previously disrupted Red Sea shipping, with attacks on ships in the Bab el Mandeb strait forcing vessels to reroute around Africa. A broader attack — including potentially planting naval mines — on the Strait of Hormuz could have even wider consequences, since it's such a vital artery for the region's oil and gas output. What If Iran Tries to Close the Strait of Hormuz?: QuickTake US ally Israel had launched a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, saying the imminent threat of the regime in Tehran securing nuclear weapons had to be neutralized. Iran's military infrastructure was seriously damaged and a number of its top generals and atomic scientists were killed. But Israel lacked the heavy bombs and B-2 stealth jets believed to be required to destroy nuclear sites buried deep underground. Tehran had responded to Israel's strikes by firing waves of ballistic missiles and drones, breaching aerial defenses, striking several cities and causing unprecedented damage. But the number of projectiles launched by Iran dropped markedly after the first few days of the conflict, raising questions about the number of missiles left in its arsenal and its ability to launch them. 'Iran is going to be facing a real dilemma, because they've already been dramatically weakened,' said Dennis Ross, who served as President Bill Clinton's Middle East envoy and is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 'They will try to do something to show they didn't just capitulate or submit, but they have their own interest in trying to limit this.' —With assistance from Natalia Drozdiak, Eric Martin, Courtney McBride, Erik Wasson and Steven T. Dennis. (Updates with details of Iranian response, additional background.) Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros The US Has More Copper Than China But No Way to Refine All of It Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump announces ‘very successful' air strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran
President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that US military forces had dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities, ending a weeklong deliberation period over joining Israel's campaign against Tehran and thrusting the United States squarely into an escalating Middle East conflict. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump added a 'a full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.' He ended his message with a call for peace. 'There is not another military in the World that could have done this,' Trump wrote. 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!' The president announced in a subsequent post that he will address the nation at 10 p.m. ET Saturday. 'This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. He also reposted a social media post that said 'FORDOW IS GONE.' The decision to target Iran directly significantly ratchets up tensions, and amounts to one of the most consequential choices of Trump's young second presidency. The debate over whether to target Iran directly had divided Trump's political coalition, with concerns high among some members of the Republican base that intervening could drag the US into a new, prolonged conflict. It's the first time in several decades — since the Iranian revolution in 1979 — that an American president has deployed Air Force assets to target major facilities in the country. American B-2 bombers were used in the operation to target the three sites, according to a source familiar with the matter. B-2 bombers are the only plane capable of carrying the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which experts have highlighted as the only type of bomb potentially capable of destroying Iran's underground Fordow nuclear facility. Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these 'bunker buster' bombs, which weigh an impressive 30,000 pounds each. The move to target the Fordow facility in particular, which successive US presidents had considered but ultimately decided against, will now insert Trump directly into a growing crisis that he had once hoped to defuse through diplomacy. The US gave Israel a heads-up on its strikes before launching them, two officials familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke Saturday evening following the strikes, two White House officials said. As Trump was mulling his decision, Iran had vowed to retaliate to any US aggression, and American military assets had begun massing in the region to prepare for any retaliatory action from Iran. Trump is hopeful the strikes will propel Tehran back to negotiations and doesn't currently plan additional US actions inside Iran as he presses Iranian leaders to 'agree to end this war,' according to sources familiar with the matter. Trump had come to believe over the last several days that US forces were necessary to taking out Iran's highly fortified nuclear facilities, and made the decision when it seemed clear that diplomacy remained deadlocked. While Trump continues to hold out hope that diplomacy will now be able to proceed, American forces in the region are prepared for Iranian retaliation. This story has been updated with additional information. CNN's Alayna Treene and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.
