Age, Biography and Wiki

Monzer al-Kassar was born on 1945 in Hama, Syria, is a Syrian-born arms dealer. Discover Monzer al-Kassar's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 79 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation Arms dealer
Age 79 years old
Zodiac Sign
Born 1945
Birthday 1945
Birthplace Hama, Syria
Nationality Syria

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 1945. He is a member of famous with the age 79 years old group.

Monzer al-Kassar Height, Weight & Measurements

At 79 years old, Monzer al-Kassar height not available right now. We will update Monzer al-Kassar's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
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Who Is Monzer al-Kassar's Wife?

His wife is Raghdaa Habbal

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Raghdaa Habbal
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Monzer al-Kassar Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Monzer al-Kassar worth at the age of 79 years old? Monzer al-Kassar’s income source is mostly from being a successful . He is from Syria. We have estimated Monzer al-Kassar's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income

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Timeline

1945

Monzer al-Kassar (منذر الكسار) (born in 1945), also known as the "Prince of Marbella", is a Syrian arms dealer.

He has been connected to numerous crimes, including the Achille Lauro hijacking and the Iran-Contra scandal.

1960

According to U.S. authorities, Monzer's mentor in the drug and arms trade was his older brother, Ghassan, who had begun selling drugs in the late 1960s.

Al-Kassar attended law school in the late 1960s.

1970

In 1970, al-Kassar had his first Interpol-recorded arrest, for theft, in Trieste, Italy.

1972

In 1972, he was arrested in Copenhagen for selling hashish.

He then moved to the United Kingdom.

He lived in Sloane Square in London, where he took part in an operation that imported heroin and hashish from Lebanon, then bought arms with the profits and smuggled them back to Lebanon.

1974

In either 1974 or 1977 (sources conflict), al-Kassar was arrested and jailed in the UK for selling hashish.

He served less than two years in jail.

1981

In 1981, he married Raghdaa Habbal, who was seventeen years old at the time, and who came from a well-connected Syrian family in Beirut.

1984

In 1984, al-Kassar was expelled from the UK for drug and arms trafficking.

After his expulsion from the UK, al-Kassar moved, along with his wife and by then two children, to Marbella, Spain.

There he bought a mansion, that he named "Palacio de Mifadil" ("Palace of My Virtue", in a combination of Spanish and Arabic), and quickly developed a reputation as a wealthy, ostentatious businessman.

The European press soon began to call him "The Prince of Marbella".

1985

In 1985 he was the subject of a profile in the French magazine Paris Match, which wrote, "in a few years, this Syrian merchant became one of the most powerful businessmen in the world."

The Spanish government alleges that in 1985, al-Kassar sold arms to the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, and that afterwards he flew the hijackers' leader, Abu Abbas, to safety in one of his private airplanes.

Al-Kassar has denied the charge.

1987

In 1987, investigations into the Iran-Contra scandal found that al-Kassar had been paid 1.5 million GBP by someone in the U.S. government to sell arms to Nicaraguan Contras; according to an article in The New Yorker, the money came from "a Swiss bank account controlled by Oliver North and his co-conspirators."

1992

In 1992, al-Kassar made arms sales valued in the millions of USD to Croatia, Bosnia and Somalia, violating United Nations arms embargoes to all three countries.

That same year, al-Kassar obtained an Argentine passport, with the alleged plan to move there, with the assistance of then-president Carlos Menem, whose parents were from the same town in Syria as those of al-Kassar, and who may have been a relative.

1995

In 1995, a court in Madrid acquitted Al-Kassar of all charges related to the hijacking.

The trial came in 1995, and he was found not guilty on all charges.

2000

(In 2000, he was indicted in Argentina for "obtaining documents under false pretences".) Also in 1992, the Spanish government arrested him for his alleged earlier involvement in the Achille Lauro hijacking, along with "falsification of documents" and "possession of illegal weapons and vehicles".

He spent more than a year in jail before being released on bail.

2001

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, there was renewed interest in the United States in apprehending those connected to terrorism, as well as new laws that gave greater power for "extraterritorial jurisdiction", or the ability of the U.S. government to investigate and arrest people suspected of committing crimes outside the United States.

2006

In July 2006, the government of Iraq placed him at No. 26 on their "most wanted" list, calling him "one of the main sources of financial and logistics support" for the Iraqi insurgency.

In 2006, the Drug Enforcement Administration decided to put together a sting to trap al-Kassar, code-named "Operation Legacy" and led by Jim Soiles and the DEA's Special Operations Division.

They enlisted a 69-year-old Palestinian former member of the Black September Organization, referred to publicly only as "Samir", who was then being held in a U.S. prison.

Samir spent much of 2006 trying to arrange a meeting with al-Kassar, and was finally able to in December 2006.

2007

In February 2007, the DEA had Samir arrange a meeting between al-Kassar and two Guatemalan informants posing as FARC insurgents who wanted to purchase weapons to use against American military forces.

The group met several more times, and at later meetings the informants were wearing hidden video cameras, which recorded al-Kassar agreeing to the terms of the deal.

The informants, at the request of the DEA, then tried to lure al-Kassar to Romania, ostensibly in order to collect his payment for the sale, where he could be easily arrested by U.S. agents; but al-Kassar refused.

They instead convinced him to board a flight to Madrid for the same purpose.

2008

On 20 November 2008, he was convicted in U.S. federal court as part of a U.S. government sting, for agreeing to sell arms to undercover agents posing as suppliers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Colombian guerrilla organization.

He was sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment.

Al-Kassar was born in Hama and grew up in the nearby town of Nebek.

His father was a lawyer and diplomat who at various times was Syria's ambassador to Canada and India.

2009

Ghassan remained in the arms business until his death of natural causes in 2009.

According to a 2009 report by the United States Congress, Monzer al-Kassar supplied weapons and military equipment to armed groups engaged in violent conflicts in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq.