A couple living in Massachusetts exported electronics to aid Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons program, the Treasury Department said Wednesday in a statement announcing new sanctions.
“Syria’s horrific use of chemical weapons, including attacks against innocent women and children, remains deeply embedded in our minds,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “Today, we are continuing our campaign to stop the Assad regime’s ruthless attacks by targeting the procurement networks that have supported its chemical weapons program.”
Treasury took aim Wednesday at the electronics supply for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, which develops Assad’s chemical weapons. Treasury officials blacklisted eight people and five entities, including Antoine Ajaka and Anni Beurklian. Based in Waltham, Mass., the pair worked for years to circumvent American export controls to provide Assad’s chemical weapons team with high-end electronics from the United States.
“These defendants were key players in a sophisticated scheme to illegally export electronics, computer equipment, and electrical switches to enhance Syria’s capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction,” Special Agent Harold Shaw said in the announcement. “The FBI will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to detect, thwart, and bring to justice those who seek to kill innocent people and defraud the United States.”
Ajaka and Beurklian were indicted in March, but Justice Department officials at the time accused them of providing parts for improvised explosive devices. Treasury’s announcement identified them as providing support for some of the most egregious war crimes of the 21st century — Assad’s repeated use of chemical weapons on the Syrian people in the course of the ongoing civil war. They fled the United States in January, in the midst of plea deal negotiations.
“We remain firm in our resolve to counter Syria’s horrific use of chemical weapons, and will continue to take aggressive action against those who supply the SSRC and enhance Syria’s capacity to produce and use chemical weapons,” Mandelker said.
