US Envoy Says Drug Money Funds Druze Weapons, Disputes Claims of Washington Backing

US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Friday that armed Druze factions in southern Syria buy their weapons with money from the captagon trade, and he rejected any suggestion that a local sheikh has backing from Washington. Barrack, who also serves as US ambassador to Turkey, made the remarks in an interview with commentator Mario Nawfal published on X.

Barrack said he puts 90 percent of Syria's captagon trade through Sweida, and he described the run of territory from Sweida to Daraa as a center for making and selling the drug. He compared the work to methamphetamine production and said the money it brings in lets Druze groups arm themselves. He did not name the sheikh he was talking about, but his comments landed on Hikmat al-Hijri, a spiritual leader in Sweida who opposes Damascus, has called for Israeli support, and has pushed for full independence.

Barrack said the issue was not Israel itself but a specific sheikh who uses the perception of support from Tel Aviv and Washington to go after other Druze. He called claims of US backing for the sheikh absolutely wrong. The tension surfaced earlier this month when al-Hijri's supporters raised Israeli flags at a rally in Sweida marking the anniversary of the 7 October 2023 attacks.

The Bashan administration, which is aligned with al-Hijri, issued a statement expressing anger and rejecting the captagon claim. It said Jabal Bashan is not a production center, that the community has long fought smuggling networks, and that young men have died in that work. In May 2026, al-Hijri said the move toward self-determination is irreversible and called for an administration for Jabal Bashan separate from Damascus.

Barrack said Druze communities in the Golan Heights and along the border have served alongside Israeli Defense Forces soldiers, and he noted Israel has described its strikes in southern Syria, including strikes on Syrian government forces in Sweida in July 2025, as efforts to protect Druze. He said Syria has held back in response to Israeli incursions and warned that hard retaliation could open a wider fight. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has made clear he does not want a confrontation with Israel, Barrack said, while adding that Israel stays wary of Sharaa's past as a fighter with the al-Nusra Front and of foreign fighters in army units near the border. The two sides have held five rounds of border and boundary talks since the first round in Paris in May 2024.

Barrack said he expects Israel and Syria to reach an understanding. The talks continue.