In a deserted luxury flat in Damascus, armed men sifted through designer clothes and documents. Photographs of Hussam Luka, Assad’s feared spy chief, were scattered across the floor under a crystal chandelier. The photos showed him in various settings, even shaking hands with the ousted dictator Assad.

Luka, known as "The Spider", commanded Syria’s most powerful civilian intelligence agency and was sanctioned by the UK, US and EU. He vanished overnight in December 2024 when Assad was toppled, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. In the apartment, rebels searched for clues to his whereabouts, finding a notebook filled with names of shopkeepers, doctors,clone and officials, and a phone book with 155 numbers.

Investigators tried calling 51 operational numbers but received no answers. A breakthrough came when a guard for Luka’s block provided a contact for a former bodyguard named Mahmoud.

Hassan al‑Turba, the Attorney General, has filed a lawsuit accusing Luka of premeditated murder, torture and death resulting from torture, while a BBC reporter continues to track the missing regime officials.