The Syrian regime seized over the weekend a drugs shipment that had departed from the western al-Qusayr region that is controlled by its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, informed sources in the city of Homs told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The confiscation of the shipment, which was headed to regime-held Latakia, highlights the differences between the regime and Hezbollah, both of which control the Syrian-Lebanese border areas.
The sources emphasized the importance of the news being released on regime agency SANA, adding that this was a message to Hezbollah and possibly even its backer, Iran.
The drugs seizure was not reported by either Hezbollah or Iranian media.
SANA reported Saturday that concerned authorities confiscated in the Homs province a large shipment of captagon narcotic pills that were concealed in wooden doors.
The shipment was being transported via a Kia vehicle that was carrying a Homs license plate. The drugs were packed for shipping and were being delivered from Qusayr to Latakia, it reported.
The concerned authorities arrested the smugglers.
The informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the arrest was not simply a thwarting of a smuggling operation, but it was the “exposure of only the lowest rung of operations and an attempt to pressure those behind it.”
This confirms the existence of differences or possible a struggle for power between the regime and Hezbollah, they added.
Hezbollah has since capturing Qusayr in 2013 cut down trees and turned agricultural property into tobacco and cannabis farms, revealed locals who were forced out of the region.
They said that the armed group was still preventing their return even though the regime has restored its control over it.
US government reports revealed that 30 percent of Hezbollah’s income is generated from the drug trade throughout the world.
Syria has long been a passage for the drug trade and this activity had spiked since 2005. These figures were confirmed by a regime anti-drug campaign that was carried out in 2010.
