The narco-barons of Syria

Summary: The Assad family and Hezbollah have used the Syrian civil war to build a thriving industry in illicit drugs and in doing so have turned the country into a narco-state

A recent report from the Center for Operational Analysis and Research (COAR) details how Syria has spiralled into a narco-state, what the IMF defined in 2003 as a state ”where all legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power and wealth of traffickers.”