Syrians arrive in Venezuela to guard minister wanted by the US: Report
Venezuelan minister El Aissami is among the most wanted in the US for drug trafficking. (File photo: AFP)
By Emily Judd, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 7 September 2019
A group of guards from Syria reportedly arrived in Venezuela to operate as a security team for a Venezuela politician, who is among the most wanted in the US for drug trafficking.
Tareck El Aissami currently serves as Minister of Industries and National Production under Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. El Aissami and his family have helped sneak Lebanese Hezbollah militants into the country, gone into business with a drug lord and shielded 140 tons of chemicals believed to be used for cocaine production, according to a secret dossier reported by The New York Times.
The information about the Syrian guards was revealed by Simon Novis, Special Security Commissioner for Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido, in an interview reported by Guaido’s communications website. Guaido is recognized as Venezuela’s interim ruler by many nations including the US and UK.
Read more at: https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2019/09/07/Syrians-arrive-in-Venezuela-to-guard-minister-wanted-by-the-US-Report.html
Like Tareck Azis under Saddam? That guy above has a Middle-Eastern heritage and his name is Arabic, I think I read it was Lebanese but it could be Syrian or other.
Insight Crime:
Tareck El Aissami
Last update June 17, 2019
...
In February 2017, the US Treasury Department charged El Aissami with drug trafficking. This saw his visa revoked, his assets in the United States confiscated and a ban placed on all US institutions from having financial or commercial dealings with him.
He is also accused of helping members from the Hezbollah terrorist group enter Venezuela, according to investigations by the Venezuelan intelligence service revealed by the New York Times.
This accusation was first made by drug trafficker Walid Makled, and was confirmed in February 2019 by Major General Hugo Carvajal Barrios, Venezuela’s former intelligence chief, who accused El Aissami of having established links with the Lebanese Shiite militant organization since 2009.
None of these charges has limited his time in government.
More at: https://www.insightcrime.org/venezuela-organized-crime-news/tareck-el-aissami/
At the end of the article, Insight Crime says we can use distribute their information as long as we attribute it to them.
