Syrian authorities burn over 1 million captagon pills which was produced industrially under ousted President BASHAR AL-ASSAD and turned the country into a narco-state

Friday, December 27, 2024 - Syria’s new authorities incinerated a massive stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, December 25, including one million pills of captagon, according to two security officials who spoke to AFP. The industrial-scale production of captagon flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, transforming Syria into a narco-state during its more than 13-year civil war.

“We found a large quantity of captagon, around one million pills,” said a security officer identified only as Osama, whose khaki uniform bore a “public security” patch. An AFP journalist witnessed security forces in Damascus’ Kafr Sousa district setting fire to a cache of cannabis, tramadol painkillers, and pink and yellow captagon pills at a compound previously operated by Assad’s forces.

Captagon, a banned amphetamine-like stimulant, has flooded black markets across the region in recent years, with Saudi Arabia serving as a primary destination. “The security forces of the new government discovered a drug warehouse as they were inspecting the security quarter,” said another security official, Hamza, who added that authorities destroyed stocks of drugs and alcohol to “protect Syrian society” and “cut off smuggling routes used by Assad family businesses.”

Since an Islamist-led rebel alliance toppled Assad on December 8 after a swift offensive, the new authorities have reported uncovering massive quantities of captagon in former government facilities, including security branches. Fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), part of the Islamist coalition now in power, have previously burned similar stashes found in Assad-controlled areas.

“This is not the first initiative of its kind,” said Hamza. “The security services have found other warehouses and drug manufacturing sites and destroyed them in the appropriate manner.”

Maher al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s brother and a military commander, is widely accused of orchestrating Syria’s lucrative captagon trade. Experts believe the former regime leveraged the threat of drug-fueled unrest to pressure Arab governments.

A Saudi delegation reportedly met Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus on Sunday to discuss the “Syria situation and captagon,” according to a source close to the new government. Meanwhile, Jordan has intensified efforts to crack down on smuggling along its 375-kilometre border with Syria, targeting weapons and drugs, including captagon.