The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has upended the largest player in the illicit Captagon trade in the world as journalists, civilians, and activists uncover industrial-scale production sites of the powerful stimulant.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/syria-assad-captagon-drug-trade-a8b30615?mod=e2tw">said</a> that Syria&#8217;s drug trafficking empire was &#8220;the most profitable&#8221; in the Middle East and was the primary party responsible for fueling the use of Captagon — a stimulant that has fueled war and terrorism in the region since roughly 2011, when Syria&#8217;s civil war erupted.
The addictive stimulant has earned the nicknames “the drug of jihad” and “the poor man’s cocaine” because of its ability to keep users wide awake and give fighters extra confidence and stamina.
The Assad regime&#8217;s involvement in the production of the drug brought the dictator several billion dollars per year that he used to offset international sanctions.
Videos have emerged on social media showing tens of millions of pills from mass production sites at Syrian military air bases and other commercial businesses affiliated with Assad and his family.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Levant24 Gains exclusive access to a Captagon factory that belonged to the Assad regime and Hezbollah in Douma, Damascus. <a href="https://t.co/OCFOlHWp6b">pic.twitter.com/OCFOlHWp6b</a>
— Levant24 (@Levant_24_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Levant_24_/status/1866794097106977089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, gains rare access inside a Captagon factory.
The drug made the Assad family billions and funded the brutal rule in Syria. <a href="https://t.co/Xlow86VA5N">pic.twitter.com/Xlow86VA5N</a>
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1867535153469567389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🔴 كاميرا الجديد تتجوّل داخل أكبر مصنع للكبتـاغون بالعالم العربي عند الحدود اللبنانية السورية 
▶️ نقل مباشر: <a href="https://twitter.com/zahraafardoune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@zahraafardoune</a> <a href="https://t.co/kZmxa4jvkp">pic.twitter.com/kZmxa4jvkp</a>
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) <a href="https://twitter.com/ALJADEEDNEWS/status/1868012327066632319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For years, the Syrian regime denied that captagon production happened within territories it controlled.
Yet in the first three days since Assad left, we&#8217;ve found industrial-scale captagon trafficking and manufacturing facilities in:
1. Mazzeh Air Base (likely affiliated with… <a href="https://t.co/1rNH3A7q5j">pic.twitter.com/1rNH3A7q5j</a>
— Caroline Rose (@CarolineRose8) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarolineRose8/status/1866896533448175726?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Footage shows Syrians destroying drugs &#8212; pill of captagon. Under Assad, the country became notorious for producing and exporting this cheap narcotic. Islam prohibits drugs, but many Islamists groups have engaged in such profitable trade, and used pills when sending their… <a href="https://t.co/8MccXa9N0c">pic.twitter.com/8MccXa9N0c</a>
— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) <a href="https://twitter.com/hahussain/status/1866173921302659348?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2024</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
VIDEO: 🇸🇾 Assad government&#8217;s captagon trade exposed in Syria
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad&#8217;s government in Syria has thrown light into the dark corners of his rule, including the industrial-scale export of the banned amphetamine-type stimulant<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFPVertical?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AFPVertical</a> <a href="https://t.co/KRf3Xpmh94">pic.twitter.com/KRf3Xpmh94</a>
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1867559346517028908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
Caroline Rose, an expert on the Captagon trade at the New Lines Institute, said that the evidence being uncovered proved that it was &#8220;systematically involved in Captagon production and trafficking.&#8221;
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“You can imagine the manpower, the resources that were required. It shows such investment into this illicit trade,” Rose said. “It penetrated so many elements of the regime: its political apparatus, patronage networks, the security apparatus.”
The drug is used by soldiers in Syria&#8217;s military and terrorists with ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah, those who work demanding jobs, students trying to study for longer hours, and recreationally by patrons of nightclubs.
There have been <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/11/17/is-crystal-meth-the-next-syrian-narco-weapon/">signs</a> in recent years that the regime had pivoted from Captagon to methamphetamine, a move that only takes a few slight tweaks to the manufacturing process. The end result is a more addictive and powerful substance that is far deadlier and has greater negative societal impacts.

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Industrial-Scale Captagon Production Sites Found In Syria After End Of Assad Regime