On May 23, 2013 Mahfouz’s home was raided by the police and members of the Syrian Political Security Branch who searched the house and beat Mahfouz in front of his children, which resulted in a serious head wound. Mahfouz was subsequently arrested and disappeared. Approximately one and a half months later, Syrian authorities seized Mahfouz’s grocery shop.

One year after his arrest, Mahfouz’s lawyer obtained informal information from the State Security Branch in Damascus that Mahfouz was being held in a secret detention facility and had been informally accused of funding, supporting and assisting a terrorist organisation. On June 14, 2014, Mahfouz was last seen by a former detainee at Branch 285, General Intelligence Department Branch in Damascus. In 2018, following a request for information made to the Public Prosecutor in Damascus, Mahfouz’s family were advised by authorities that they had no information regarding his fate and whereabouts.