Syrian rebels find drug stockpile tying Assad regime to black market trade

[KARAH RUCKER]

Days after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, we’re learning more about how the regime used the sale of *drugs*, particularly one found on the black market.

Syrian rebels discovered millions of pills of the drug captagon, a banned drug previously prescribed for ADHD and narcolepsy.

The drug, known for its effects on increasing focus and energy, is one of the most common illicit drugs in Syria and the Middle East region.

A fighter with Syria’s ruling HTS rebel group said the factory was linked to the former president’s brother, who has been accused of being a kingpin in the black-market captagon trade.

The drug was a huge part of Syria’s economy, bringing in billions for the fallen regime.

A 2022 investigation by French outlet AFP found Syria to be the world’s largest narco state, with captagon becoming its largest export, more so than all of its legal exports combined.

An HTS fighter said the rebels burned the supplies they found, citing the harm of the drug to the Syrian public.

But experts on illicit drugs say even authorities crack down on manufacturing, other ones pop up shortly thereafter. 

That means that the destruction of the newly discovered large haul will probably only disrupt the market for captagon for a short time.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Karah Rucker.

And for all the latest updates on this and other top stories, download the Straight Arrow News app.