The United States issued sanctions against individuals and entities on Wednesday, that it describes as part of a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that funnels millions of dollars to Hezbollah.
The action targeted four Lebanon-based companies registered to conceal ties to Hezbollah as well as three individuals linked to the group’s finance arm, according to a Treasury Department statement.
Silvana Atwi is the secretary for senior finance official al-Bazzal and is linked to several companies tied to Hezbollah. She is associated with Alumix SAL, which was sanctioned by OFAC in September 2019 for its connections to al-Bazzal, and Concepto Screen SAL Off-shore, which has facilitated oil deals benefiting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force and Hezbollah. Atwi also owns G.M. Farm, a Lebanese company involved in financial projects benefiting Hezbollah and Iranian interests.
Haidar Houssam el-Din Abdel-Ghaffar owns Global Tradeline SARL, a company that imports and rebrands food products for profit, including those tied to Hezbollah activities. In 2022, Global Tradeline SARL paid al-Bazzal over half a million dollars. Ghaffar also controls Liban Oui SARL, a dairy operation that generates revenue for Hezbollah.
Houssam Hamadi is a businessman linked to Hezbollah and is the legal owner of United Sons, a company based in Lebanon.
The US also sanctioned three individuals involved in the manufacture and sale of the captagon amphetamine drug, who it states have funded the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and its allies, including Hezbollah.
“Today’s action underscores destabilizing influence within Lebanon and on the wider region, as the group, its affiliates, and its supporters continue to finance their operations through covert involvement in commercial trade and the illicit trafficking of captagon,” Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.
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