Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, industrial-scale manufacturing facilities of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon have been uncovered around the country, which experts say fed a $10 billion annual global trade in the highly addictive drug. Among the locations used for manufacturing the drug were the Mazzeh air base in Damascus, a car-trading company in Latakia and a factory that once made snack chips in the Damascus suburb of Douma. Government forces seized the factory in 2018. “Assad’s collaborators controlled this place. After the regime fell … I came here and found it on fire,” Firas al-Toot, the original owner of the factory, told The Associated Press. “They came at night and lit the drugs on fire but couldn’t burn everything.” “From here, Captagon pills emerged to kill our people,” Abu Zihab, an activist with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main group now ruling the country, said while his group gave journalists access to the site. Syria’s nearly 14-year-old civil war fragmented the country, crumbled the economy and created fertile ground for the production of the drug. Militias, warlords and the Assad government transformed the production of Captagon from a small-scale operation run by criminal groups into a billion-dollar industrial revenue stream. The recent ousting of Assad has disrupted these networks and has given a closer look at its operations — revealing the workings of a war economy that sustained Assad’s power over Syria. Experts say the change in Syria might create an opportunity to dismantle the Captagon industry. How did Syria build its Captagon empire? Captagon was first developed in Germany in the 1960s as a prescription stimulant for conditions like narcolepsy. It was later outlawed due to heart issues and its addictive properties. Its amphetamine-like effects made it popular in the Middle East among both elites and fighters, as it enhanced focus and reduced fatigue. Assad’s government recognized an opportunity in the cheaply manufactured drug amid Syria’s economic turmoil and the heavy sanctions imposed on it. Captagon is produced through a simple chemical process that involves mixing amphetamine derivatives with excipients to form tablets, typically in makeshift labs. The Captagon trade began industrializing around 2018-2019 as the Assad regime — and other armed groups in Syria — invested in production facilities, warehouses and trafficking networks. This allowed Syria to emerge as the largest producer of Captagon globally, with some production also occurring in Lebanon. Most seized consignments of Captagon originated from Syria, according to data by the New Lines Captagon Trade Project, an initiative of the New Lines Institute think tank. Evidence of the Assad regime’s sponsorship of the Captagon industry is overwhelming, the report published in May said. The Security Office of the 4th Armored Division of the Syrian Arab Army, headed by Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher oversaw operations and created a coordinated production system, the report added. Where and how was Captagon smuggled? Captagon was smuggled across borders in trucks and cargo shipments. Sometimes the drugs were concealed in food, electronics and construction materials to evade detection. The primary smuggling routes were Syria’s porous borders with Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, from which the drug was distributed throughout the region. The leading markets are wealthy Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In Lebanon, the Captagon trade has flourished, particularly near the Syrian […]