A Syrian rebel fighter holds a container of Captagon pills, a brand name of the psychostimulant Fenethylline, discovered at a drug manufacturing facility in the city of Douma on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on 12 December 2024. AFP
FIRSTPOST | Published December 14, 2024
The warehouse raided by the HTS fighters was located outskirts of Damascus, where Captagon pills were concealed inside electrical components for export
Weeks after the dramatic collapse of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria, the rebel groups unearthed the industrial-scale export of the banned drug called Captagon. After taking over the country, Islamist-led fighters have seized military bases and distribution hubs for the amphetamine-type stimulant, AFP reported. The drug has flooded the hidden market across the Middle East.
The search operation was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group. The rebels said that they found a vast haul of drugs at the complex and vowed to destroy them. According to AFP, the warehouse raided by the HTS fighters was located outskirts of Damascus, where Captagon pills were concealed inside electrical components for export.
HTS fighters claimed that the factory was linked to Maher al-Assad and Amer Khiti. Maher al-Assad is the brother of the Syrian president and was a military commander and is now presumed on the run. He has been widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative Captagon trade.
Meanwhile, Khiti was placed under sanction by the UK government in 2023. At that time, the British authorities accused the Syrian politician of “controlling multiple businesses in Syria which facilitate the production and smuggling of drugs.”
The dark side of Assad regime
Beneath the warehouse and loading bays, thousands of dusty beige Captagon pills were packed into the copper coils of brand-new household voltage stabilizers. “We found a large number of devices that were stuffed with packages of Captagon pills meant to be smuggled out of the country. It’s a huge quantity. It’s impossible to tell,” HTS fighter Abu Malek al-Shami told AFP.
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SOURCE: www.firstpost.com
RELATED: Syria’s opposition group exposes ousted government’s drug trade
Syrian opposition group inspects electrical storage components that were used to hide pills of Captagon, a brand name of the psychostimulant drug Fenethylline, at the warehouse of a drug manufacturing facility in the city of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta region on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on December 12, 2024
AL ARABIYA NEWS | Published December 14, 2024
The dramatic collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime has thrown light into the dark corners of his rule, including the industrial-scale export of the banned drug captagon.
Victorious opposition fighters have seized military bases and distribution hubs for the amphetamine-type stimulant, which has flooded the black market across the Middle East.
Led by the “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS), the group says it has found a vast haul of drugs and vowed to destroy them.
On Wednesday, the group allowed AFP journalists into a warehouse at a quarry on the outskirts of Damascus, where captagon pills were concealed inside electrical components for export.
“After we entered and did a sweep, and we found that this is a factory for Maher al-Assad and his partner Amer Khiti,” said black-masked fighter Abu Malek al-Shami.
Household appliances
Maher al-Assad was a military commander and the deposed strongman’s brother, now presumed on the run. He is widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.
Syrian politician Khiti was placed under sanction in 2023 by the British government, which said he “controls multiple businesses in Syria which facilitate the production and smuggling of drugs”.
In a cavernous garage beneath the warehouse and loading bays, thousands of dusty beige captagon pills were packed into the copper coils of brand new household voltage stabilizers.
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SOURCE: www.english.alarabiya.com
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