Drug Trafficking and Involvement in Syria: A Japanese Report Unveils the Reality of “Polisario” Mercenaries
Pan Orient News, a Japanese agency specializing in Arabic, English, and Japanese publications, has exposed the Polisario mercenaries in an investigative article published in all three languages, revealing alarming data that confirms the involvement of the Polisario Front in terrorist activities outside the borders of North Africa.
The article’s title reads: “Polisario’s Involvement in Syria Reminds Us of Japan’s Classification of It as an Organization Linked to Al-Qaeda,” referring directly to the classification mentioned in the international terrorism guide issued by Japan’s Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA) in 2013 and 2014, which regarded the Polisario Front as an organization connected to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Japanese agency noted that this information aligns with a recent investigative report by the American newspaper The Washington Post, which indicates the participation of Polisario fighters in the brutal operations carried out by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria, with direct support and coordination from Iran, prior to the regime’s collapse and the country’s transition into a new phase.
The report from The Washington Post, published on April 12, stated that the militia affiliated with the Polisario had received intensive training from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, as well as being supplied with heavy weapons to carry out armed operations as part of a network aimed at expanding Tehran’s influence in the Middle East and North Africa, in coordination with Algeria.
The report mentioned that hundreds of Polisario members were arrested within Syrian territory by the new authorities, including high-ranking Algerian officers, among them a general in the Algerian army, alongside no fewer than 500 personnel from both the army and Polisario involved in combat operations supporting the Assad regime.
In a related context, the Japanese agency added in its report that Fahd Al-Masri, head of the National Salvation Front in Syria, revealed in statements published by the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that Iran transported more than 200 Polisario members to southern Syria, where they were stationed in sensitive locations near the occupied Golan Heights, including Al-Tanf Airport and the Air Defense Battalion in Sweida, and the 90th Brigade.
Additionally, the agency indicated that several media reports uncovered that Polisario fighters established joint camps with the Iranian-backed Afghan “Fatimiyoun” militias in the Syrian city of Palmyra, suggesting that the fall of the Syrian regime revealed the extent of the Iranian influence network in the country and the role played by the Polisario in this regard.
The report also mentioned that Algeria exerted diplomatic pressure to release the detained Polisario members; however, the new Syrian president, Ahmad Al-Shara, rejected these demands, stressing that all detainees would be prosecuted under international laws governing the treatment of war prisoners.
According to the report, the accelerating pace of events prompted members of the U.S. Congress, including Representative Joe Wilson, to call for classifying the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization, based on intelligence reports confirming the front’s involvement in supporting armed groups in the African Sahel and its collaboration with organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram.
Furthermore, the agency revealed additional media reports indicating that the funding sources for Polisario leaders include suspicious transfers believed to be linked to drug trafficking proceeds (especially Captagon), arms, and Algerian oil resources.
