Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables | Reuters

Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables | Reuters

Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables

By Feras Dalatey, Joanna Plucinska, Reade Levinson and Maha El Dahan

April 16, 202511:51 PM PDTUpdated 4 hours ago

Item 1 of 9 A satellite image, according to Reuters analysis, shows the C5-SKY jet taxiing to the runway before its flight out of Syria, at Hmeimim air base, Syria December 8, 2024. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

[1/9]A satellite image, according to Reuters analysis, shows the C5-SKY jet taxiing to the runway before its flight out of Syria, at Hmeimim air base, Syria December 8, 2024. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Ousted Syrian ruler used private jet to move cash, valuables, and documents to Abu Dhabi, sources say
• Plane made four flights in last days of Assad's regime, the last one from Russian base
• Jet carried documents and hard drives mapping Assad's corporate empire
• Syria's new government wants to recover assets linked to Assad's network

DAMASCUS/LONDON/DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) - As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth.

Yasar Ibrahim, the president's top economic adviser, arranged the leasing of the plane to transport Assad's treasured assets, relatives, aides and presidential palace personnel to the United Arab Emirates aboard four flights, according to an account of the operation pieced together by Reuters from more than a dozen sources.