Assad’s fall reveals secrets of Captagon manufacturing in Syria
The fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria has shed light on many thorny and secret files, most notably prisons, detention centers, and the manufacture of the Captagon drug pills.
The issue of the manufacture of Captagon has surfaced since the armed military factions took control of military bases and warehouses for distributing stimulants mixed with amphetamine that flooded the black market throughout the Middle East.
Since the opposition factions took control of the country, they have seized dozens of major Captagon factories on the Syrian coast, in addition to Homs and Damascus governorates and their countryside.
The factions also seized abandoned factories for manufacturing drugs, containing chemicals used in manufacturing, including large quantities of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) stacked in large bags, and stimulants that include the drug amphetamine, in addition to hundreds of pills in strips ready for sale, owned by Maher al Assad.
The armed opposition factions pledged to destroy the pills, and several videos have already been circulated on social media platforms showing fighters getting rid of large bags of the drug and emptying them of their contents.
On Wednesday, the Military Operations Department revealed that Captagon pills were hidden inside electrical components for export.
In a garage below the warehouse and loading areas, thousands of beige Captagon pills were packed and hidden in the copper coils of new home electrical transformers.
In a warehouse above, cardboard boxes were ready to disguise the narcotics as a regular cargo load, along with a large quantity of caustic soda packed in white bags.
Caustic soda, or sodium hydroxide, is an essential ingredient in the production of methamphetamine, a substance that is stronger than amphetamine and more dangerous.
Caroline Rose, director of the Captagon trade project at the New Lines Institute in New York, said the global trade in Captagon is worth about $10 billion, and the previous Syrian leadership’s annual profits from it are estimated at about $2.4 billion.
Rose, whose organization tracks all Captagon seizures and raids on publicly registered laboratories, appeared to be one of the largest Captagon laboratories ever found.
On social media, dozens of videos have spread about finding tons of Captagon in security headquarters and prisons, in addition to the palaces of the Assad family.
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