Maher al-Assad.. Captagon Emperor and Death Maker in Syria

Maher al-Assad is the second most powerful and influential man in Syria, with a bloody history in the country, and the hidden man who was the shadow of the deposed president, Bashar al-Assad. He possessed great military power and money, and was very influential in his country.

Maher and Bashar revived the biography of their father and uncle, Hafez and Rifaat al-Assad. The first of them was the president who controlled the country’s political and military affairs, while the second was the protector of the regime in the shadows and the annihilator of the opposition.

Maher was an extension of his uncle Rifaat, who established the Fourth Division, but its leadership passed after him to his nephew, who took over after him to continue his path of crushing and exterminating the Syrians during their revolution. On top of that, he controlled the Captagon drug trade, and British sources estimated that the annual profits from this trade were around 50 billion dollars.

From childhood to the fourth band

Maher al-Assad was born on December 8, 1967, and is the youngest of the sons of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad (Bushra, Basil, Bashar, Majd, and Maher).

He stayed away from the spotlight, and continued his secondary education at the Freedom Academy before moving on to study business administration at the University of Damascus. After graduating, he followed in the footsteps of his brother, Basil al-Assad, by joining the Syrian army, where he began his military career that would make him one of the pivotal figures in the Syrian state.

When the traffic accident that killed his brother Basil occurred in 1994, Maher's name emerged as one of the candidates to succeed his father, but this path changed, as Bashar, the middle brother, was chosen to become Hafez al-Assad's successor.

Maher's personality and his sharp tendency towards bloodshed and violence were considered one of the factors that influenced his exclusion in favor of Bashar, who was seen as calmer and more acceptable in political circles.

In 2008, Maher played a prominent role in suppressing riots inside Sednaya prison, where prisoners took control of the situation and held 1,250 soldiers hostage out of 1,500. During this campaign, 25 prisoners were killed out of 10,000 who were held in the prison, in addition to 30 of the soldiers who were hostages.

Between 2016 and 2017, conflicting reports emerged about his military rank, with some rumours suggesting he was a brigadier general, while others suggested he had been promoted to major general. By April 2018, Maher had become commander of the 4th Armoured Division, one of the most powerful units in the Syrian army, after previously serving as commander of the division’s 42nd Battalion and then commander of the Republican Guard. This position enhanced his military and political influence within the regime, making him one of the most influential figures in Syria.

Syrian Revolution

Since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution on March 15, 2011, Maher al-Assad's forces have played a bloody role in suppressing protests using excessive force in areas such as Daraa, Baniyas, Homs and Idlib.

These forces had a direct impact in turning peaceful protests into bloody confrontations. In fact, numerous reports, including one published by the Los Angeles Times, indicated the existence of video clips showing a person believed to be Maher al-Assad shooting unarmed demonstrators in the Barzeh neighborhood of Damascus.

Defected soldiers under Maher’s command also revealed that they received explicit orders to use lethal force against protesters. One sniper who left the army’s ranks recounted that during the Daraa protests they received clear orders to aim directly at the head or heart, with no restrictions on the number of casualties, as the goal was to kill as many as possible to quell the demonstrations at any cost.

These accounts shed light on the deadly tactics used by Maher al-Assad’s forces, under his direct orders, which formed a fundamental part of the Syrian regime’s strategy in confronting the protests since their inception, and which later resulted in Arab and international sanctions being imposed on him for his role in suppressing the demonstrations.

enhance influence

Maher al-Assad's influence was strengthened following the bombing of the Syrian National Security building on July 18, 2012, an attack that killed senior regime leaders, including Defense Minister Daoud Rajha, his deputy Assef Shawkat, head of the Crisis Management Cell Hassan Turkmani, and Hisham Bakhtiar, head of the National Security Bureau.

Following the incident, Maher's role in leading military operations became prominent, as the Fourth Armored Division, under his command, led a fierce attack during a 4-day siege (July 18-22, 2012), during which it was able to overrun 3 main areas that were under opposition control in Damascus, which strengthened his position as one of the regime's most prominent military arms.

In July 2013, reports from pro-regime websites said that Maher al-Assad was leading military operations in the Aleppo and Homs areas, indicating his continued military role despite rumours that he had been injured in an explosion the previous year.

But doubts about his health condition were dispelled when a Lebanese broadcaster published a photo of Maher al-Assad with singer George Wassouf in June 2014, confirming that Maher was still alive and that he was not affected by the rumors that circulated about him. He continued for the next ten years to carry out his bloody duties of oppressing the Syrian people and directly supervising the Captagon drug trade.

Captagon Emperor

Captagon was first used in 1961 as a drug to treat fatigue and behavioral disorders, and was soon given to soldiers to enable them to stay awake for long periods to ensure increased strength and activity, but due to the emergence of serious symptoms, it was declared a dangerous drug, and companies stopped producing it since 1986.

Last September 2024, the Al-Mutaher program, which is shown on Al Jazeera’s 360 platform, revealed in its investigative report the involvement of the Assad family in the manufacture, trade and distribution of the drug Captagon.

The investigation revealed that Maher, Bashar al-Assad, and their cousin Mudar Rifaat al-Assad are the most important trio and directly responsible for manufacturing this substance in different regions in Syria, as well as overseeing its distribution methods.

According to audio leaks of Siman Ghanjah, a member of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence who worked as an escort for drug shipments, he revealed one of the routes of this trade, which began at the Lebanese-Syrian border where the manufacturing took place, and ended in Latakia, and from there it departed from the city’s “Yugoslav” port, which is the main outlet for smuggling drugs by sea to Libya, Greece and Italy.

Karam Al-Shaar, director of the Syria program at the Political and Economic Networks Observatory, revealed that the border strip between Syria and Jordan also included several points for the production of Captagon, but they were of a local nature. He also discussed the shift of mass production to Latakia, where maritime smuggling areas are concentrated, allowing for production on a larger scale.

According to Al-Shaar, the large production was in the maritime smuggling areas, in addition to sites in Daraa in southern Syria and near the Iraqi border.

He also explained that several companies linked to the Fourth Division, led by Maher, appeared after 2011, and are controlled by people close to the regime and its security services.

He pointed out that Mudar al-Assad owns transportation and shipping companies, stressing the impossibility of any activity related to drugs without the approval of the Fourth Division, headed by Maher al-Assad, given its control over most of the military checkpoints, which explains its pivotal role in the drug trade and perhaps even in production.

Drug blackmail

Many reports have revealed that Maher al-Assad has been flooding some countries with Captagon since 2011. The Carnegie Middle East Center revealed last July 2024 that his goals include obtaining the necessary funding to continue the war machine that Bashar and Maher led against the people, paying soldiers’ salaries, and financing the interests and wealth of the al-Assad family, in addition to using this trade to blackmail some countries to obtain political positions supporting the Assad regime.

British sources revealed that the Captagon trade brings in about $50 billion annually to the treasury of the Assad family, headed by Maher.

Following the escape of Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher, the Syrians discovered many Captagon production plants in Damascus and its countryside, especially Douma, and even areas for distributing these drugs inside Damascus itself. Photos taken by the Anadolu Agency showed the presence of a drug packaging workshop in the basement of one of the factories, and it was found that the narcotic pills, which were being prepared for shipment, were hidden inside electrical panels.

Escape

Thirteen years after the Syrian revolution, and following the launch of Operation Deterrence of Aggression and its success in controlling the country within days, on December 14, informed sources revealed to Al Jazeera the fate of Maher al-Assad.

According to information reported by Al Jazeera Net from Iraqi security sources, Maher fled to Iraqi territory and is residing near the capital, Baghdad, under the direct supervision of officers affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

According to these sources, Maher left Damascus at dawn on Sunday, December 8, 2024, accompanied by Iranian officers, after they took secret routes in northeastern Syria, which were used to smuggle weapons and drugs. These are areas under the control of the Fourth Division, which Maher heads. He was eventually able to reach Iraq, penetrating the territories controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Source: Al Jazeera