US Sentences Assad-Linked Trafficker in Hamas Finance Case

The Justice Department said Antoine Kassis, a dual Lebanese-Syrian national, was sentenced July 2 to 30 years for narco-terrorism conspiracy and 20 years for material support to Colombia's ELN terrorist group, with the terms running concurrently. Prosecutors say he used Assad-regime access to trade military-grade weapons for hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, planned a 500-kilogram shipment through Syria's Port of Latakia and was arrested in Kenya before extradition to the U.S. Trial evidence showed co-conspirators moved nearly $100 million for the Sinaloa Cartel, Hamas and others. The case validates Israel's warning that Hamas and hostile regional networks use global crime to finance terror.