Bags, Planes, and Weekly Flights: How Bashar al-Assad Stole Syrians’ Money

Watan–Informed sources have revealed a massive financial smuggling operation carried out by the Bashar al-Assad regime, transferring huge sums of money to Moscow via Syrian Airlines, making it one of the most mysterious and corrupt financial transfers in the regime’s history.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, these funds were transported under the direct supervision of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence and were largely derived from investments in the manufacturing and trade of Captagon, which the regime has been accused of managing for years.

Reports indicate that the last money smuggling flight took off just four days before Bashar al-Assad’s escape to Russia. Since late 2020, Syrian Airlines had been operating a weekly flight to Moscow, specifically to Vnukovo Airport, until mid-2024. Investigations revealed that each of these flights carried bags filled with money, valued at an average of $20 million, bringing the total amount smuggled to billions of dollars.

The transfer was carried out under strict security measures, with the money collected from the Central Bank of Syria and loaded onto a special armored truck for direct transport to the bottom of the plane, away from ordinary passenger luggage. Airport workers were forbidden from inquiring about the contents or destination of the bags, and strict warnings were issued to prevent anyone from intervening in these secret operations.

This new revelation intensifies suspicions regarding the Assad regime’s involvement in illegal financial activities, amid reports of ongoing investigations that may expose a vast network of illicit financial dealings managed by the regime prior to its collapse. This comes amid the worsening economic crisis in Syria, where citizens suffer from a total economic collapse while the regime was transferring the country’s wealth abroad to secure its survival and provide a safe haven for its leaders.

These revelations suggest that Assad’s downfall was not only the end of an authoritarian regime but also the beginning of exposing unprecedented financial corruption crimes. With increasing evidence of money smuggling, Assad and his top officials may face international legal actions, especially with growing pressure on Russia to clarify its stance on these operations that took place under its watch over the past years.