What has Assad’s fall revealed about the Captagon drug trade in Syria?

Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-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.”

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“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.

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History of Syria’s 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 West Asia among both elites and fighters, as it enhanced focus and reduced fatigue.

Assad’s government recognised 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 industrialising 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.

The process of smuggling Captagon

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 border and in the Bekaa Valley. Lebanese authorities struggled to curb the flow of Captagon from Syria, which analysts say was facilitated by the Hezbollah militant group.

Following the discovery of crates of fruit meticulously packed with bundles of the drug hidden among pomegranates and oranges, Saudi Arabia and the UAE implemented bans on Lebanese agricultural products.

Captagon has also found its way as far as Southeast Asia and parts of Europe.

Revenue Captagon produced for Assad regime

The annual global trade in Captagon had an estimated value of $10 billion, with the ousted Assad family’s annual profit reaching around $2.4 billion, according to Caroline Rose, director of the New York-based New Lines Institute Captagon Trade Project.

“Seeing the uncovering of so many industrial-scale facilities affiliated with the regime was shocking but not surprising. There was extensive evidence linking key regime-aligned cronies and Assad family members to the trade,” said Rose, whose organisation tracks all publicly recorded Captagon seizures and lab raids.

The discovery of the facilities, she said, confirmed “the concrete relationship between Captagon and the former regime.”

The exact number of factories in Syria remains unclear, but experts and HTS members estimate that there are likely hundreds spread throughout the country.

Captagon as a narco-diplomatic tool

While neighbouring countries have long sought to curb drug trafficking, their influence over Assad was limited.

Saudi Arabia imposed strict penalties for Captagon trafficking and enhanced border security, collaborating with other Gulf states to monitor smuggling routes. However, these efforts faced challenges from the complex networks operating across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Captagon provided Assad’s government with leverage to end his political isolation. In recent years, as several Arab states reestablished ties with him, stopping the Captagon trade was a key demand in talks aimed at normalising relations. In May 2023, Syria was readmitted to the Arab League, where it had been suspended since 2011 due to Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters.

Syria pledged to clamp down on smuggling, leading to the formation of a regional security coordination committee.

Shortly after the summit and in a possible sign of behind-the-scenes trade-offs, Jordan intensified surveillance along the Syrian border. Activists and experts attributed airstrikes on a known drug kingpin’s home and on a suspected Captagon factory near Daraa to Jordan, likely with Assad’s consent.

Future of Captagon in post-Assad Syria

Assad has turned Syria into “the largest Captagon factory in the world,” HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa stated in a victory speech at Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque on December 8. “Today, Syria is being cleansed, thanks to the grace of Almighty God.”

While Assad and his circle may have been the primary beneficiaries, there is also evidence that Syrian opposition groups were involved in drug smuggling. Rebel groups, local militias and organized crime networks manufactured and smuggled the drug to finance their operations, analysts say.

“Likely, we will see a short-term supply reduction in the trade, with a decline in the size and frequency of seizures as industrial-scale production is largely halted. However, criminal actors are innovative, likely seeking out new locations to engage in production and smuggling, particularly as demand levels remain stable,” Rose said.

They may also “seek out alternative illicit trades to engage in instead,” she said.

In addition to dismantling the Captagon trade, the country’s transitional government should “establish programs for economic development that will incentivise Syrians to participate in the country’s formal, licit economic sphere,” Rose said.