A U.S. federal jury has convicted Antoine Kassis, cousin of Bashar al-Assad, of narco-terrorism conspiracy for plotting to trade Assad regime weapons for 500 kilograms of Colombian cocaine, with ties to Hezbollah, the Sinaloa Cartel, and the ELN terrorist organization. SETF Executive Director soccermouaz called the conviction a significant step: "For someone that senior to have been arrested and put on trial is a huge deal." Full article by Ephrat Livni in The New York Times.