Syria’s government curbing once-booming Captagon industry: UN report

According to a report from the United Nations, Syria’s government has cracked down on the Captagon industry, which was flourishing under former longtime leader Bashar al-Assad.

A network of factories and storage facilities have been destroyed by Syria’s new authorities since al-Assad’s ouster a year ago, according to a research brief the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published on Monday.

The majority of the world’s Captagon, an amphetamine-like drug, has been produced in Syria for more than ten years, earning al-Assad’s government billions of dollars.

However, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has imposed a clampdown on his government in an effort to legitimize it and strengthen international relations.

According to the UNODC report, 13 storage facilities and 15 industrial-level laboratories have been shut down overall. The Captagon market has “drastically changed” thanks to the action, according to the agency.

Saudi Arabia, among the Gulf states, had previously been criticized for its role in the drug trade. Additionally, it aided in enforcing sanctions against Western countries.

Political will and cooperation with other countries

According to Caroline Rose, a New Lines Institute think tank expert on Syrian drug trafficking, the Captagon trade has provided billions of dollars in profit to networks and individuals affiliated with the former government, “either within the leadership of the regime’s security apparatus, Syria’s commercial sector and business elite, or/or family members of Bashar al-Assad.”

Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s brother and former leader of the army’s elite Fourth Division, was identified as a key player who profited from Latakia’s defense of shipments.

Large seizures of the drug across the region indicate that significant stocks of the pills originating from Syria are still in circulation, the report noted.

According to the UNODC, smaller-scale production is likely to continue in Syria and neighboring nations, with Gulf nations still being the main drug buyers.

According to the UN agency, the destabilization of the Middle East’s Captagon industry is evidence that even highly complex drug markets can be destabilized in relatively short time thanks to political will and international cooperation.

However, it warned that the shift could sway local consumers away from more potent, recently popular synthetic substances like methamphetamine.