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This potent drug, as reports, is used by everyone, from students to fighters. The drug has entrenched itself in everyday life, cutting across social and economic classes
A lesser-known but escalating crisis is gripping the Middle East, unfolding along the Syrian-Jordanian border — captagon, an amphetamine that’s become a multimillion-dollar industry.
This potent drug, as per the Wall Street Journal, is used by everyone, from students to fighters. The drug has entrenched itself in everyday life, cutting across social and economic classes.
A massive trade
According to the WSJ report, smugglers find creative methods to move the drug across borders, from drones and homing pigeons to catapults and child couriers.
The multi-billion dollar drug trade is reportedly fuelling a massive trade that has lined the pockets of Iran-backed militias, including the Hezbollah, which allegedly funnels drug profits into arms procurement to fuel the war against Israel.
Captagon isn’t just a street-level problem; it has powerful patrons. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime is accused of industrialising captagon production to offset the crushing toll of international sanctions.
Syrian and Lebanese operations, often linked with Iran-backed factions, allegedly control vast networks in production, trafficking, and profit, driving the drug’s rapid proliferation in the region.
Syria, however, denies any role in the drug trade, despite reports that the Assad regime fetches billions annually from captagon.
According to the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, a Syrian and Arab research organisation that tracks the captagon trade, the regime fetched an annual average of about $2.4 billion between 2020 to 2022 — roughly one-fourth of Syria’s GDP.
US and Captagon
The US sees captagon as a looming threat to stability in allied nations like Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
In 2022, President Biden signed the Captagon Act, demanding a US strategy to disrupt smuggling and build law-enforcement partnerships in the Middle East against captagon networks.
Jordan, which has deployed a third of its army along the border to curb the flow of drugs across its border with Syria, is cracking down hard on smuggling.
The nation’s soldiers have even adopted shoot-to-kill policy to deal with the smugglers.
US satellite-guided bombs and intelligence sharing have bolstered Jordan’s operations, yet the drug trade remains rampant.
According to the New Lines Institute, since the start of Gaza conflict, seizures of captagon in Jordan have spiked fourfold and are often accompanied by illicit arms shipment.
Jordan’s antidrug department last year arrested about 35,000 people on drug charges, a 24% increase from the year before. In June, Jordanian authorities foiled two smuggling operations involving nearly 10 million illicit pills, worth up to $200 million, destined for Saudi Arabia.
What is Captagon?
Originally developed in Germany in the 1960s to treat conditions like ADHD.
Its main ingredient as per the report is pseudoephedrine, commonly found in cold and flu medication. The drug itself is versatile and dangerous, often laced with sedatives, stimulants, and even heavy metals—enhancements that increase dependency but heighten health risks.
Captagon was outlawed in the 80s, but Syrian and Lebanese traffickers saw opportunity in its potency and high demand. Production exploded during the Syrian civil war, transforming Syria into a captagon powerhouse.
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments in the Middle East involving both state and non-state actors. In this context, claims and counterclaims are being made online and offline. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos, and videos.
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