Syrian President Assad's Cousin Sentenced to 30 Years in US for Arms-for-Cocaine Deal

Antoine Kassis, a 59-year-old Lebanese-Syrian and cousin of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, was sentenced in the United States to 30 years in prison. The US Department of Justice reported that Kassis exploited his connections with Assad's former regime to facilitate arms shipments to the National Liberation Army, a Colombian terrorist group, in exchange for hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. Kassis collaborated with his brother Maher and other senior Syrian military officials to import 500 kilograms of drugs through the port of Latakia for distribution in the Middle East. He was arrested in Kenya and extradited to the US in May.