For “dealing in USD” | Arrest campaign launched against merchants in Damascus markets

Damascus province: SOHR activists have reported that members of the regime’s “Political Security” branch launched a wide-range arrest campaign against several merchants in some markets of the capital Damascus for charges of “dealing in USDs instead of Syrian Liras.”

According to reliable SOHR sources, patrols stormed “Al-Abed” St. in “Al-Salihiyah” market and arrested two merchants, who own stores for selling men’s clothes, with over 12,000 USDs and 17,000,000 Syrian Liras in their possession.

Moreover, patrols stormed “Al-Khaja” market in old Damascus (Dimashq Al-Qadima), where two merchants selling travelling bags were arrested for possession of amounts of USDs, Euros and Saudi Liras, and they were taken to an unknown destination. Meanwhile, one of the stores was closed with red wax.

It is worth noting that those merchants were monitored by regime Intelligence for over ten months, after obtaining information of the merchants dealing in foreign currency and imposed prices that suits their work.

It is criminalized to deal in USDs within regime-held areas, to support the Syrian Lira that reached a deteriorating level.