Syria’s $5.7 Billion Drug Empire Crumbles as New Government Burns Million-Dollar Stockpile
A potato chip factory outside Damascus reveals Syria’s dark transformation. Its floors remain sticky with chemicals used to produce Captagon, the highly addictive amphetamine that funded Assad’s regime for years.
Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant, saw a production boom under Bashar al-Assad’s regime. This surge earned Syria the label of a narco-state.
Syria’s drug production exploded after 2013 when the regime converted chemical factories into Captagon manufacturing centers. The trade reached $5.7 billion annually, surpassing Syria‘s legitimate exports and dwarfing its official budget.
The regime developed sophisticated production methods, hollowing out pomegranates to hide pills and establishing fake industrial facilities as fronts.
A single pill costs pennies to produce but sells for up to $20 in wealthy Gulf nations. Assad’s brother Maher emerged as the operation’s mastermind.
He transformed legitimate businesses into drug factories and used military facilities to protect the trade. The Fourth Division of Syria’s army managed the vast distribution networks.
The drug trade reshaped Middle Eastern security. Jordan fortified its borders after deadly clashes with traffickers. Saudi Arabia halted Lebanese produce imports after discovering pills hidden in shipments.
Syria’s new authorities now burn drug stockpiles and expose former production sites. They discovered massive quantities – around one million pills in recent raids. Yet the deeply entrenched networks persist.
The trade generated three times more revenue than all Mexican drug cartels combined. As new authorities destroy these stockpiles, they face the challenge of dismantling a drug empire that became Syria’s economic lifeline during international isolation.
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