Captagon has turned Syria into a narco-state after more than a decade of war

In the midst of wars or episodes of instability, mafias see their opportunity to boost illegal business, be it human, arms or drug trafficking. Already in 2018, the United Nations warned that insecurity and armed conflicts in the Middle East had led to a "significant increase in drug trafficking and drug use" in the region.

Syria is no exception. After 11 years of war, the Arab country has become a narco-state due to the production, trafficking and export of captagon. Known as the "jihadists' drug" because it is one of Daesh's sources of income, it represents Syria's largest exports, surpassing all the country's legal exports combined, according to data collected by AFP. The news agency also notes that revenues from captagon trafficking may amount to as much as $10 billion. 

Captagon - the trade name for fenetylline - was used as an antidepressant in Western countries, but when its high addictive potential was demonstrated, it became banned. Fenetylline was also used as a medicine for children with hyperactivity. Possible side effects include chronic depression, blurred vision and cardiovascular problems.

As Caroline Rose, a researcher at the Newslines Institute for Policy and Strategy, told the BBC, "captagon has become the main source of revenue for the Syrian government". Rose points out that people close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, such as his younger brother, Maher al-Assad, are behind this business. The Damascus authorities, for their part, have on numerous occasions denied the accusations.

In fact, the government claims that it 'plays an important role in supporting the international community's efforts to combat crime in general, especially the fight against drug trafficking'. However, Interior Minister Muhammad al-Rahmoun did admit to state media Athrpress that, due to its geographical location, it was "a transit country".

Investigations by media outlets such as The New York Times and The Guardian, as well as organisations investigating drug trafficking, have linked the Syrian government to the drug and its trafficking. According to the Centre for Operational Analysis and Research (COAR), the lack of conventional economic activity due to the war has increased 'the attractiveness of industrial-scale drug speculation, which has been captured and largely controlled by narco-entrepreneurs linked to the Assad regime and foreign allies'. 

In fact, according to Ian Larson, a COAR analyst - quoted by the BBC - the areas where captagon production is highest "are the regions controlled by the al-Assad regime and its close relatives". Among the most critical areas are the southern provinces of Sweida and Daraa, bordering Jordan. Both are part of the routes to Saudi Arabia and are home to numerous drug laboratories.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, agrees with the reports. "Maher al-Assad is one of the main beneficiaries of the captagon trade," he says. 

Syria has become a captagon production centre that extends to countries in the region such as Lebanon - where Hezbollah is said to play an important role in protecting the traffic on the border - Iraq and Turkey, and even to the Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the largest consumer of the drug. 

In the kingdom, captagon is associated with parties, although it is also consumed by the lower social classes of the population, such as immigrant workers. "I can work for two or three days without stopping, which has doubled my income and is helping me pay off my debts," a 20-year-old who spends 150 rials a week on pills told AFP. 

Some workers have even accused their own bosses of getting them hooked on the drug. One Egyptian construction worker tells the news agency that his boss put some in his coffee to make them work faster and longer. "Eventually we became addicted," he adds. 

Last year alone, Saudi authorities confiscated 119 million captagon pills, although thousands of doses are seized every week, many of them hidden in construction materials, fruit crates or cans of food.