The French newspaper Le Figaro said that the proceeds of Captagon smuggling in the Middle East amounted to $ 5 billion, which reflects a massive increase in a large-scale illegal trade that poses a growing threat to health and safety in the region, noting that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - which Suffocated by international sanctions - it relies on smuggling this drug as a means of political and economic survival.
The newspaper pointed out that a report by the New Lines Institute to be published today, Tuesday, paints a disturbing picture of the impact of the boom in the production of a psychotropic substance called Captagon, an “amphetamine” derived from an ancient drug, noting that the report - written by analysts Caroline Rose and Alexander Soderholm. - Explains that "the Captagon trade constitutes a rapidly growing illicit economy in the Middle East and the Mediterranean."
“Based on seizures alone, the potential market value of Captagon in 2021 is estimated at more than $5.7 billion,” according to the report, which is a significant increase from estimates of $3.5 billion in 2020, although it only reflects the value of the seizures, which amounted to more than 420 million tablets, although many countries do not release annual statistics on this subject, which means that the actual amount of pills seized is likely to be higher than stated and represents only a small part of the total amount of Captagon produced.
The report indicated that Syria is the main producer of Captagon, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the main market for it, and said that it is sold in the form of a small white tablet stamped with a distinctive logo representing a half moon, and it has been banned even though it is originally a drug from the amphetamine family and a drug that was marketed since the beginning of the sixties in Germany, and its active ingredient is phenethylene.
The president's family is involved in smuggling
Captagon is now the brand name for a drug that is produced and consumed almost exclusively in the Middle East, and it often contains little or no phenethylene, a close relative of speed, the report shows.
The market value of Captagon produced in Syria now - according to the New Lines report - far exceeds the country's legal exports, which earned it the nickname "drug state".
The report documents how members of the family of President Bashar al-Assad and his regime are involved in the manufacture and smuggling of this drug.
According to the newspaper, some Captagon production units are located in Lebanon, the third largest exporter of hashish in the world after Morocco and Afghanistan, as the report says, and this country is considered “an extension of the Syrian Captagon trade, as it is a major transit point for the flows of this substance,” which indicates that the figures of the Syrian regime are benefiting From the support of various militias to organize this trade, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, whose influence includes a long stretch of the Syrian-Lebanese border, giving it a major role in smuggling.
The report believes that "Hezbollah played an important supportive role in the Captagon trade, based on its experience in controlling the production and smuggling of Lebanese hashish from the southern Bekaa Valley."