DAMASCUS: From a secretive lair nestled in the rugged mountains above Damascus, the Fourth Division’s watchful eye once ruled over a city left in tatters. Formerly under the command of Maher al-Assad, the younger brother of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the division’s bases now lie abandoned and looted. But what the looters left behind reveals a staggering tale of wealth and corruption that defined the regime’s elite and allowed them to thrive while the country bled dry.
Documents found in the abandoned sites of the Fourth Division expose the vast economic empire built by Maher and his network of cronies. For nearly 14 years of civil war, Syria’s elite grew richer and more powerful, while millions of Syrians struggled to survive in poverty. The papers paint a damning picture of a ruthless, mafia-like operation that reached into every corner of Syria’s economy, from looting bombed-out buildings for metals to expropriating homes, farms, and even food.
At the center of this empire was Maher al-Assad’s private headquarters, a complex of tunnels and hidden vaults carved deep into the mountainside. A masked guard, escorting AFP reporters through the underground labyrinth, revealed the extent of the luxurious life Maher led. Despite the regime’s collapse and the chaos that followed, looters had already made their mark, breaking open safes and scattering the remnants of Maher’s opulent lifestyle. Empty boxes for luxury watches, including Rolex and Cartier, and even cash counting machines used to bundle millions of dollars, were left behind as silent witnesses to a life of excess.
The loot uncovered in these tunnels tells only part of the story. Financial documents show that Maher al-Assad and his associates had ready access to vast sums of money—$80 million in cash, eight million euros, and 41 billion Syrian pounds—at their fingertips as recently as June of the last year. This was merely a small sample of the wealth they accumulated through illicit dealings, including their notorious involvement in the captagon trade, a $10 billion business that flooded the Middle East with an illegal stimulant. This trade has long been the focus of Western governments, which accuse Maher and his entourage of turning Syria into a narco-state.
However, the Fourth Division's corruption went far beyond drugs. The division had a hand in nearly every economic transaction in Syria, seizing goods at roadblocks, running protection rackets, and monopolizing industries like copper and tobacco. The division's control over the metal market was particularly lucrative, with businesses and factories forced to buy materials exclusively from Maher’s network, leaving many unable to operate.
While Maher and his cronies amassed fortunes, the lives of ordinary Syrians worsened. One of the most glaring examples of their greed was the expropriation of homes and properties. The Fourth Division seized properties from civilians across Syria, turning them into offices, warehouses, or prisons. A letter discovered among the papers of a Fourth Division checkpoint highlighted the plight of one family whose home had been seized. Despite being banned from the property, they were still required to pay taxes on it, while the division’s officers enjoyed lavish homes and luxury cars.
The division's corruption was not just limited to the elite; it trickled down to lower-ranking soldiers, some of whom were left to beg on the streets while their superiors enjoyed a life of excess. A soldier, desperate for financial help, wrote to Ghassan Belal, the head of the division’s powerful Security Bureau, asking for assistance. Belal, who was sanctioned for human rights abuses, responded by giving the soldier the equivalent of $33—a sum that would be laughable were it not for the staggering sums of money the division’s officers were hoarding. Belal, much like Maher, lived a lavish lifestyle, shipping luxury cars to Dubai while his subordinates were left in squalor.
Despite international sanctions aimed at crippling the Assad regime, Maher al-Assad and his men remained largely unaffected. The Fourth Division was, in many ways, an independent state within the state, able to operate with impunity. According to former officers, many high-ranking officials grew immensely wealthy during the war, accumulating safes full of cash, most of it in US dollars, despite the country’s official ban on the currency.
The Fourth Division’s role in Syria’s economy extended far beyond the borders of the country. Notorious businessmen like Khaled Qaddour, Raif Quwatli, and the Katerji brothers funneled millions into the division’s coffers, helping to fund operations that enriched both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and the Yemeni Houthis. These businessmen were deeply embedded in Syria’s war economy, extorting businesses at checkpoints and smuggling goods across borders. Despite being sanctioned by the United States, these figures continued to thrive, using their connections to circumvent international restrictions.
The division’s financial dealings were not limited to Syrian soil. According to sources, the Fourth Division had close ties to international criminal enterprises, with one drug lord revealing in a statement to Lebanese investigators that he had been protected by the division’s Security Bureau in exchange for millions of dollars. The division’s involvement in the captagon trade was so extensive that its own security cards were used by drug dealers to facilitate the movement of illegal shipments.
While much of the division's wealth was accumulated through illegal activities, much of it also came from exploiting Syria’s war-torn economy. Fares Shehabi, former head of Syria’s Chamber of Industry, explained that Maher al-Assad’s network had a stranglehold on the metal market, monopolizing copper and iron and forcing factories to buy exclusively from his network. This type of economic control extended to nearly every industry in the country, with Maher and his associates extracting money from every transaction, no matter how small.
But despite their immense wealth, the ultimate beneficiary of the division’s activities was always Bashar al-Assad, Maher’s brother. According to former officers, a portion of the division’s illicit profits and seized goods always made their way to the presidential palace. The Assad family, it seems, was at the center of a massive criminal enterprise that spanned nearly every corner of Syria’s economy.
Today, the Fourth Division's bases and depots lie in ruins, looted and abandoned after the regime’s fall. But the toxic legacy of Maher al-Assad’s reign continues to haunt the country. Analysts warn that the division's deep financial resources, combined with its network of loyalists, could still fuel future instability. With vast caches of weapons and billions of dollars potentially hidden away, the Fourth Division’s criminal network could easily resurface, particularly if Syria’s transition fails to address the deep-seated grievances that continue to fester across the country.
"The Fourth Division was not just a military unit," said Lars Hauch, a Syria expert with Conflict Mediation Solutions (CMS). "It was an economic force, a political power, a transnational criminal enterprise. Its influence didn’t just vanish with the regime’s fall. It left behind a toxic legacy that could fuel further conflict for years to come."
As Syria continues to rebuild, the shadow of the Fourth Division’s corruption looms large, a reminder of the greed and exploitation that defined a regime built on violence and oppression. The fate of Syria remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the wealth and power accumulated by Maher al-Assad and his network of profiteers will continue to haunt the country for years to come.