EU Sanctions Syria’s Assad Cousins, Others over Suspected Drug Trade

In this file photo taken on April 10, 2022 fighters affiliated with Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group display drugs previously seized at a checkpoint they control in Daret Ezza, in the western countryside of the northern Aleppo province.(AFP)

The European Union on Monday placed sanctions on people and groups linked to what it described as the Syrian government's "large-scale drug trafficking operations," and the EU also included one Russian company.

The Syrian government did not respond to a request for comment on the accusations or the sanctions against officials and military personnel.