Accused of trafficking captagon, a synthetic drug that Syria exports in large quantities, cousins and relatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were sanctioned on Monday 24 April by the European Union.

According to an AFP investigation published in November, this stimulant, once associated with the jihadists of the Islamic State group, has given rise to an illegal industry worth more than $ 10 billion supporting the pariah regime of President Assad, making Syria the newest narco-state in the world.

See also Captagon trafficking: how Syria became a narco-state

Two of the Syrian president's cousins, Samer Kamal al-Assad and Wassim Badi al-Assad, have already been sanctioned for the same charges by the US and UK.

The EU has added a third family member, Mudar Rifaat al-Assad, and several leaders, businessmen or militia members affiliated with the regime and involved in drug trafficking, said the decision issued at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

"The amphetamine trade has become a regime-led economic model. It enriches it and provides it with revenues that contribute to its ability to maintain its policies of repression against the civilian population," the statement said.

322 individuals and 81 entities on EU blacklist

The European sanctions consist of a travel ban, the freezing of assets in the EU and the impossibility of benefiting from European funding.

The EU on Monday sanctioned 25 individuals and eight entities, and the majority of designations "target individuals and entities responsible for the production and trafficking of narcotics, including amphetamine captagon," the statement said.

Several security companies used to finance the militias are also targeted as well as their leaders.

The EU also sanctioned Russian engineering and construction company Stroytransgaz and Gecopham, an entity controlled by Syria's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, for supporting the regime.

The EU blacklist now has 322 people and 81 entities, the statement said.

With AFP

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