Priest Sentenced to 20 Years for Providing Material Support to Colombian Armed Group

A federal court in Virginia sentenced a 59-year-old Syrian-Lebanese man to 30 years’ imprisonment on Friday, after he was convicted of crimes related to international drug trafficking linked to terrorism. According to the reporting, the case involved a network of arms and drug smuggling and money laundering, along with alleged direct links to prominent officials of the former Syrian regime.

The U.S. Department of Justice also announced that a priest had been sentenced to a separate term of 20 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of providing material support to the Colombian “National Liberation Army,” an organization listed under United States terrorism regulations. According to the Justice Department, trial evidence showed that the priest arranged deals to supply the Colombian group with weapons from the arsenal of the former Syrian regime in exchange for hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, as part of cross-border smuggling between Latin America and the Middle East.

Prosecutors said the priest used his ties within the former Syrian regime to facilitate his activities, working with Maher Al-Assad, the brother of former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and other officers to move arms and narcotics shipments. Testimony and exhibits presented at trial also described access to weapons previously obtained from foreign governments, including Russia and Iran, after the fall of the Syrian regime. The prosecution argued that this access indicated continued networks and relationships that could sustain such activity.

According to the Justice Department, the priest was arrested in Kenya while preparing to meet representatives of the Colombian group to sign import-related contracts. He was later extradited to the United States in May 2025 to face trial in the federal judiciary. The source material refers to him in part by the name “Antoine Q.,” and it does not clearly state how the references to the 30-year defendant and the priest relate to one another.

Investigators described one transaction as among the most prominent coordinated by the accused, involving the alleged shipment of approximately 500 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to the Syrian port of Latakia, in exchange for sophisticated weapons supplied to the Colombian organization. U.S. authorities said the operation reflected cooperation between drug trafficking and arms trafficking networks. Those who hold positions of trust answer for how they use them (Luke 12:48).

The prosecution also presented evidence that it said showed financial benefit to the former Syrian regime from drug smuggling. It described revenue allegedly generated through fees and taxes on illegal shipments crossing checkpoints inside Syrian territory, as well as alleged involvement of the former regime in the manufacture and distribution of captagon. The United States Department of Justice had previously published details of the case and the sentence against the priest, and the Syrian state news agency SANA reported on the proceedings.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Arabic)