BEIRUT — For the reason that fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, industrial-scale manufacturing services of Captagon have been uncovered across the nation, which specialists say helped flourish a $10 billion annual international commerce within the extremely addictive drug.
Among the many places used for manufacturing the drug had been the Mazzeh air base in Damascus, a car-trading firm in Latakia and a former potato chips manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Damascus.
The manufacturing unit that when produced the crunchy snack within the suburb of Douma underneath the identify, Captain Corn, was seized by authorities forces in 2018.
“Assad’s collaborators managed this place. After the regime fell… I got here right here and located it on fireplace,” Firas al-Toot, the unique proprietor of the manufacturing unit, instructed The Related Press. “They got here at night time and lit the medicine on fireplace however couldn’t burn every thing.”
“From right here, Captagon tablets emerged to kill our folks,” mentioned Abu Zihab, an activist with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the principle group now ruling the nation, as his group gave entry to journalists to the positioning.
Syria’s practically 14-year-old civil warfare fragmented the nation, crumbled the financial system and created fertile floor for the manufacturing of the drug. Militias, warlords and the Assad authorities remodeled Captagon from a small-scale operation run by small prison teams right into a billion-dollar industrial income stream.
The current ousting of Assad has disrupted these networks and has given a better have a look at its operations — revealing the workings of a warfare financial system that sustained Assad’s energy over Syria. Consultants say the change in Syria would possibly create a chance to dismantle the Captagon trade.
Captagon was first developed in Germany within the Sixties as a prescription stimulant for situations like narcolepsy. It was later outlawed on account of coronary heart points and its addictive properties.
Its amphetamine-like results made it fashionable within the Center East amongst each elites and fighters, because it enhanced focus and decreased fatigue.
Assad’s authorities acknowledged a chance within the cheaply manufactured drug amid Syria’s financial turmoil and the heavy sanctions imposed on it.
Captagon is produced via a easy chemical course of that includes mixing amphetamine derivatives with excipients to type tablets, sometimes in makeshift labs.
The Captagon commerce started industrializing round 2018-2019 because the Assad regime — and different armed teams in Syria — invested in manufacturing services, warehouses and trafficking networks. This allowed Syria to emerge as the most important producer of Captagon globally, with some manufacturing additionally occurring in Lebanon.
Most seized consignments of Captagon originated from Syria, based on information by the New Traces Captagon Commerce Challenge, an initiative of the New Traces Institute assume tank.
Proof of the Assad regime’s sponsorship of the Captagon trade is overwhelming, the report printed in Might mentioned. The Safety Workplace of the 4th Armored Division of the Syrian Arab Military, headed by Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher oversaw operations and created a coordinated manufacturing system, the report added.
Captagon was smuggled throughout the border utilizing varied strategies, hiding Captagon in vehicles, cargo shipments and items. Some shipments are hid in meals, electronics and building supplies to evade detection.
The first smuggling routes had been Syria’s porous borders with Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, from which the drug is distributed all through the area. The main markets are rich Gulf international locations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Some had been additionally shipped from Latakia port.
In Lebanon, the Captagon commerce has flourished, significantly close to the Syrian border and within the Bekaa Valley. Lebanese authorities struggled to curb the circulation of Captagon from Syria, which analysts say was facilitated by the Hezbollah militant group.
Following the invention of crates of fruit meticulously full of bundles of the drug hidden amongst pomegranates and oranges, Saudi Arabia and the UAE applied bans on Lebanese agricultural merchandise.
Captagon has additionally discovered its approach into worldwide markets, reaching so far as Southeast Asia and elements of Europe.
The annual international commerce in Captagon has an estimated worth of $10 billion, with the ousted Assad household’s annual revenue reaching round $2.4 billion, based on Caroline Rose, director of the New York-based New Traces Institute Captagon Commerce Challenge.
“Seeing the uncovering of so many industrial-scale services affiliated with the regime was stunning however not stunning. There was in depth proof linking key regime-aligned cronies and Assad relations to the commerce,” mentioned Rose, whose group tracks all publicly recorded Captagon seizures and lab raids. The invention of the services, she mentioned, confirmed “the concrete relationship between Captagon and the previous regime.”
The precise variety of factories in Syria stays unclear, however specialists and HTS members estimate that there are doubtless a whole lot unfold all through the nation.
Whereas neighboring international locations have lengthy sought to curb drug trafficking, their affect over Assad was restricted.
Saudi Arabia imposed strict penalties for Captagon trafficking and enhanced border safety, collaborating with different Gulf states to watch smuggling routes. Nevertheless, these efforts confronted challenges from the advanced networks working throughout Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Captagon offered Assad with leverage to finish his political isolation. In recent times, as a number of Arab states reestablished ties with him, topping the commerce was a key demand in talks aimed toward normalizing relations. In Might 2023, Syria was readmitted to the Arab League, suspended since 2011 on account of Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters.
Syria pledged to clamp down on smuggling, resulting in the formation of a regional safety coordination committee.
Shortly after the summit and in a doable signal of behind-the-scenes trade-offs, Jordan intensified surveillance alongside the Syrian border. Activists and specialists attributed airstrikes on a recognized drug kingpin’s dwelling and on a suspected Captagon manufacturing unit close to Daraa to Jordan, doubtless with Assad’s consent.
Assad has turned Syria into “the most important Captagon manufacturing unit on the planet,” HTS chief Ahmad al-Sharaa said in a victory speech at Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque on Dec. 8. “Right this moment, Syria is being cleansed, due to the grace of Almighty God.”
Whereas Assad and his circle might have been the first beneficiaries, there may be additionally proof that Syrian opposition teams had been concerned in drug smuggling, Insurgent teams, native militias and arranged crime networks manufactured and smuggled the drug to finance their operations, analysts say.
“Possible, we’ll see a short-term provide discount within the commerce, with a decline within the dimension and frequency of seizures as industrial-scale manufacturing is basically halted. Nevertheless, prison actors are revolutionary, doubtless in search of out new places to interact in manufacturing and smuggling, significantly as demand ranges stay secure,” Rose mentioned.
They might additionally “search out various illicit trades to interact in as a substitute,” she mentioned.
Along with dismantling the Captagon commerce, the nation’s transitional authorities ought to “set up packages for financial growth that can incentivize Syrians to take part within the nation’s formal, licit financial sphere,” Rose mentioned.
