Burnt-out rooms reveal extent of lucrative regime-supported operation to smuggle drug across region
t was no secret, everyone seemed to know where it was. When asked for directions, the coffee vendor pointed up the hill. “The Captagon factory? Straight ahead.”
Originally an anti-narcolepsy drug produced in central Europe, the amphetamine soon became infamous within the Middle East, as the Syrian regime and Iranian-backed militias began to mass produce it during the Syrian civil war. Analysts estimated the Assad regime netted $5bn annually from the trade, a value many times larger than the official budget and a vital lifeline for the bankrupt state.
Jars of chloroform and formaldehyde sat next to sacks of sodium hydroxide, precursors for the production of Captagon, the formula of which researchers said in recent years varied wildly. The alleged owner of the facility, Amer Khiti, was a former MP sanctioned by the US in 2020 due to his ties to the Assad regime. The UK also imposed sanctions on him due to his ownership of multiple businesses in Syria which “facilitate the production and smuggling of drugs, including Captagon”.
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