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Syrian Authorities Arrest Bashar Assad's Cousin on Drug Trafficking Charges
- On June 21, 2025, Syrian security forces detained Wassim al-Assad, a relative of the ousted president Bashar al-Assad, in the countryside of Homs near the border with Lebanon.
- The arrest followed increasing pressure on Syria to tackle corruption, drug trafficking, and criminal networks amid intensified international scrutiny and recent regime change.
- Security agencies, working in close collaboration, carried out a carefully coordinated ambush in the Homs countryside that led to al-Assad’s arrest near a key smuggling route.
- Officials describe al-Assad as a key figure in regional drug trafficking and crimes under the former regime, noting his inclusion on the 2023 US sanctions list targeting corruption and organized crime.
- The arrest may signal Damascus’s limited efforts against corruption and organized crime, potentially affecting Syrian-Lebanese relations and influencing external actors' views on political reforms.
57 Articles
57 Articles
Wassim al-Assad: The Fall of a Regime’s Enforcer - The Syrian Observer
In a dramatic turn emblematic of Syria’s unfolding reckoning with its brutal past, Wassim al-Assad—once a symbol of impunity, decadence, and violence—has been arrested in a carefully orchestrated security operation. The announcement by Syria’s Ministry of Interior marks a critical milestone in the country’s nascent attempt to dismantle the vestiges of the Assad regime’s entrenched criminal networks. A cousin of the ousted president Bashar al-Ass…
Syria's Interior Ministry reports the arrest of Wassim al-Assad. The authorities have managed to lure the cousin of the overthrown leader into "a trap."
In Syria, local authorities reportedly arrested a cousin of the overthrown leader Assad.
Syria says al-Assad cousin involved in drug trade arrested in border ambush
Wassim al-Assad, cousin of former ruler Bashar al-Assad, is the first prominent figure from the Assad family to be arrested since Islamist-led forces toppled the government on December 8, ending five decades of one-family rule.
Syria arrests Assad cousin involved in drugs in border ambush
Syrian authorities arrested Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of former Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the interior ministry said Saturday, in one of the most high-profile arrests since the former president's ouster. Assad fled to Russia in December with only a handful of confidants, abandoning senior officials and security officers, some of whom have reportedly fled to neighbouring countries or taken refuge in the coastal heartland of Assad's Alawite mi…
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