Boy in Syrian refugee camp
Boy in Syrian refugee campiStock

Media associated with the Syrian rebel factions on Monday revealed that terrorists identified as part of the Hezbollah terror organization were caught selling drugs to high school students in Wadi Barada, a suburb west of Damascus, Israel Hayom reported.

According to the rebel media reports, local residents complained that military intelligence and members of terror groups regularly sell Lebanon-produced drugs to youth in order to provide themselves with an income.

The drugs, mostly cannabis and cannabis products, are brought to Syria by Hezbollah's drug network, which also smuggles drugs to other countries. Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war, many of the Syrian draftees working for the government forces have not received their salaries or have received only partial salaries. As a result, many of them have turned to drug dealing in order to raise their income.

Local sources told the Khaleb Al-ayoum site that "people of the militia come with hashish and energizing pills and offer them to students. Many of the youth have been through trauma and difficulties because of the war and the escape to drugs is easy for them. They are abusing the youths' weakness."

Israel Hayom noted that last month, several battles broke out between the various militias in Damascus' western suburbs, apparently due to the ongoing struggle against the income from drug dealing, water, and flour in the area. The local population, mostly Sunni Muslims, has had to make peace with the monopoly held by the militias over local services, and the authorities ignore the widespread violence, drug dealing, and prostitution.