Syrian arms dealer trades weapons for wealth to gun-hungry rebels

An interview with a Syrian man who claims to be an illegal arms dealer about the ins and outs of the weapons game. The 40-year-old man revealed that his largest sale to date has been for 3,000 shotguns sold off for $100,000 and the only clients he will sell to are those affiliated with the rebels.
 
In an effort to conceal his true identity, the man has asked to be referred to as Abo al-Jamajem. For the past two years the 40-year-old has been involved with selling illegal arms in Syria, better known as being a bloody battlefield with endless fighting and constant commotion.
 
Al-Jamajem starts off by revealing that he can only rely on three individuals to help him sell and distribute the loads of illegal arms across different hot spots in the war-torn nation. Him, along with his small team of associates only do business in the liberated zones of Syria and will only allow his arms to be sold off to rebels warriors.
 
When asked about how often women and children purchase weapons from him he said, "They do not buy because all of my customers are only men and I do not sell to women and children at all". According to his experience in the game, he rarely comes across foreigners and only sells off his supply to Syrians.
 
Though, just because he sets tight restrictions on who gets a shot at purchasing his stock of weapons, business has been booming. For one of his largest sales to date, one unnamed client bought 3,000 shotguns for a grand total of $100,000. For the most part, the dealer tries to understand for what specific purpose a potential customer may need a weapon. "There are exceptional people who I cannot ask because they buy big amounts," al-Jamajem revealed.
 
His supply countries remain a mystery as al-Jamajem would not delve into the specifics but did comment that some parts for sale are from spoils, in other words guns and arms lying around from slaughtered militants. Insurgents, hungry for weapons can buy Star 7 guns, rifles, snipers, and shotguns from the illegal arms dealer. The most popular models are doshkas and PKSA guns.
 
As extreme as the man’s job seems, there is a reason why he gets up every morning to sell off weapons that will be used to murder the innocent, guilty, along with unknown civilians that stand in the way of non-stop tirades which seep through select regions in the divided nation.
 
Al-Jamajem claims that his two sons were killed by militants who were thought to have been affiliated with the regime—these family deaths sparked the then civilian to lash back and retaliate, abiding by his own set of rules as an arms dealer. "I wanted to supply the rebels with weapons in order to get revenge for my sons and in order to be a rich man at the same time," al-Jamajem confessed.
 
However, after the weapons leave the hands of the illegal arms dealer, there is no telling who those bullets will kill in the line of fire. Rebels are the only type of people allowed to purchase from him. Still, there has been speculation that unnamed rebels have been reselling their illegally bought weapons to extremist groups, such as the Daesh clan.
 
The Daesh group has been reportedly killing Syrians in a cruel manner and is thought to be unstoppable. It seems safe to say that in a country filled with dangerous weapons, collateral damage is a given, but the amount of destruction may only get worse with the tons of weapons being tossed around for unknown rebels to do as they please.
 
Like any sensible person the arms dealer longs for the day the war will finally come to an end. "I gained too much money and do not forget that my income is still increasing and you have to put into your mind too that the war is still going on, in the long run, for sure that makes me get richer more and more," al-Jamajem explained and then added, "If it ended it would be a big miracle and I hope so as soon as possible."
 
As long as the war drags on, illegal arms dealers in Syria will continue to keep their gun stock available for customers to buy. It remains unclear how many patrons illegally sell weapons on either a large or small scale, but the fact that civilians continue to bleed to death from gunshot wounds in rebel regions may be proof enough that arms are in circulation. While one man’s profits are another man’s plunge to death—it is just another priceless transaction made during the dark days in war-ridden Syria.