An Assad family relative convicted of participating in a narcotics and weapons trafficking conspiracy was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, marking another high-profile US prosecution tied to the former Assad regime.
Antoine Kassis, 59, a dual Lebanese-Syrian national, received a 30-year sentence on July 2 for conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and a concurrent 20-year sentence for conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the US Department of Justice and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
The sentencing follows Kassis’ conviction on charges stemming from a scheme to exchange military-grade weapons linked to the Assad regime for hundreds of kilograms of cocaine supplied by Colombia’s National Liberation Army, or ELN, which the US has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
Weapons-for-Cocaine Plot Detailed
According to court records cited by the Justice Department, Kassis used his access to senior Assad regime officials to facilitate the trafficking operation. Prosecutors said he identified himself as a cousin of Bashar al-Assad and claimed he worked directly with Maher Assad and other senior military officials during the negotiations.
Authorities said the conspiracy began in 2024 and centered on a $14 million deal involving 500 kilograms of cocaine in exchange for military equipment that included rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and sniper rifles. The Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) said the arrangement involved weapons diverted from Assad regime stockpiles.
The Justice Department revealed Kassis traveled from Lebanon to Kenya to meet an ELN weapons inspector before signing an agreement to ship what appeared to be a container of fruit from Colombia to Syria’s Port of Latakia. Investigators said the shipment was intended to conceal the cocaine, which Kassis planned to distribute across the Middle East.
International Cooperation Led to Arrest
Federal prosecutors said Kassis laundered drug proceeds through a Colombian co-conspirator’s organization. Evidence presented during the trial showed the network moved nearly $100 million in less than 18 months on behalf of organizations that included the Sinaloa Cartel and Hamas, according to the Justice Department.
Kenyan authorities arrested Kassis before extraditing him to the US in May 2025. The investigation involved the DEA’s Special Operations Division and law enforcement agencies in multiple countries across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, according to the DEA.
SETF said Kassis is the second individual affiliated with the Assad regime to be convicted in the US. In March 2026, former Syrian Brig. Gen. Samir Othman al-Sheikh was found guilty of torture and defrauding US immigration authorities. Sheikh has not yet been sentenced.
