US targets sanctions evasion network tied to Hezbollah

Washington: The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday on what it described as a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that funnels millions of dollars to Hezbollah.

The action targeted three individuals linked to Hezbollah's finance arm and four Lebanon-based companies registered to conceal ties to the militant group, according to the US Treasury Department statement.

The US also sanctioned three individuals involved in the production and sale of the amphetamine known as 'captagon', that funded the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its allies, including Hezbollah.

"Today's action underscores (Hezbollah's) 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.