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Damascus Arrests Drug Trafficker Linked to Maher al-Assad, Others Held Over Tadamon Massacre

Members of Syria's security forces. (Idlib Governorate)
Members of Syria's security forces. (Idlib Governorate)
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Damascus Arrests Drug Trafficker Linked to Maher al-Assad, Others Held Over Tadamon Massacre

Members of Syria's security forces. (Idlib Governorate)
Members of Syria's security forces. (Idlib Governorate)

Security forces in the Damascus countryside announced the arrest of Shadi Adel Mahfouz, describing him as one of the individuals involved in recent attacks on security forces in the coastal region.

Mahfouz was reportedly employed by the ousted regime’s Military Intelligence Branch 277 and was responsible for recruitment on behalf of Military Security.

Security forces also arrested two suspects linked to the 2013 massacre in the Tadamon district of Damascus: Kamel Sharif Abbas and Maher Hadeed.

Hadeed, a member of the National Defense Forces, is accused of committing additional war crimes against Syrian civilians. Authorities suspect a connection between Hadeed and Amjad Youssef, the primary suspect in the Tadamon massacre.

The arrests follow just over a month after Syrian security forces captured three individuals involved in the 2013 Tadamon massacre. One of the suspects confessed to killing more than 500 people in the Tadamon district at the start of the revolution against the former regime.

The massacre took place on Nasreen Street in Tadamon, near the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus.

It remained undiscovered for nearly nine years until footage surfaced in April 2022, published by the Guardian. The video revealed Syrian regime forces executing 41 civilians, including seven women and several children.

In related developments, local media sources reported the arrest of Mohannad Naaman, a close associate of Maher al-Assad and senior officers in the Fourth Division.

Naaman, originally from Harasta in the Damascus countryside, is accused of overseeing one of the major captagon pill production sites in both the Damascus countryside and along Syria’s coastal region, including a ship anchored off Syria’s shores.

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Three Algerians Charged in Kidnapping of Opposition Figure in France

Amir Boukhors (social media)
Amir Boukhors (social media)
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Three Algerians Charged in Kidnapping of Opposition Figure in France

Amir Boukhors (social media)
Amir Boukhors (social media)

Three men, including an employee at the Algerian consulate in France, were indicted in Paris on suspicion of involvement in the April 2024 kidnapping of Amir Boukhors, an opponent of the Algerian regime, judicial sources told AFP on Saturday.

The three men were charged Friday in Paris with kidnapping and unlawful detention in relation to a terrorist organization, as well as participation in a criminal terrorist conspiracy, according to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).

Later, a French judge ruled that all three be placed in pre-trial detention.

One of the suspects works for an Algerian consulate in France. While he holds a service passport rather than a diplomatic one, the issue of diplomatic immunity is expected to be addressed during the proceedings, a source close to the case told AFP.

Boukhors, a well-known critic of the Algerian regime, had previously survived two serious attacks — one in 2022 and another on the evening of April 29, 2024, according to his lawyer, Eric Plouvier.

The kidnapping, which initially fell under the jurisdiction of the Créteil prosecutor’s office, was later taken over by PNAT in February 2025.

“This shift to an anti-terror investigation shows that a foreign power, Algeria, did not hesitate to carry out violent acts on French soil — acts of intimidation and terror that threaten lives,” Plouvier said, calling the case a “state affair.”

Neither of the suspects’ attorneys responded to AFP requests for comment.

Boukhors’ name also surfaced in a separate probe by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

In that case, a French Economy Ministry employee was indicted in December for allegedly providing confidential information about Algerian dissidents — including Boukhors — to an Algerian national working at the Algerian consulate in Créteil.

According to sources, some of the individuals targeted in that investigation later became victims of violence, death threats, or abduction attempts.

The latest developments between the two countries coincided with the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron, who said last Friday he is “confident” on the release of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, sentenced to five years in prison in Algeria.

Sansal’s case is under “special attention” by Algerian authorities, Macron commented during a visit to the Paris Book Festival, adding that the evolution of the case makes him confident that the writer would soon be released.

“I am confident because I know that there is particular attention. I am simply waiting for the results,” Macron said.

He added, “Our strongest wish is for the Algerian authorities to make the decision that will allow him to regain his freedom, receive treatment, and return to writing.”

Observers believe that the decision to charge the three Algerian men in France would disrupt the fresh efforts to revive bilateral relations between Paris and Algiers, particularly following the March 31 phone call between Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who voiced their willingness to repair relations and after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said last week that ties with Algeria were back to normal.