the captagon unites Assad and the rebels

A business of 10,000 million euros a year that feeds the coffers of the government and the opposition, creating “unthinkable” alliances. A universal substance used by students and professionals, and is considered less “prohibited” than alcohol or other drugs. Saudi Arabia is the main market destination.

Milan () – A trade that unites all the parties involved in the Syrian conflict, from the Assad family to the opposition, from the Kurds to the rebel and jihadist groups that still control a considerable part of Syrian territory. And that, over the years, it has established theoretically unthinkable alliances. More than a decade of devastating civil war has reduced Syria, once one of the most advanced economic and cultural centers in the entire Middle East, to a desert of ruin, rubble and poverty. However, there is an element that transcends borders and unites the opposing sides: captagon, the drug that in recent times has established itself as the most consumed in the entire region. Around the stimulant, famous in the past because it was widespread among the militants of the Islamic State (IS, formerly Isis), today an industry of more than 10,000 million euros has flourished that feeds the coffers of the government (and those closest to it). President Bashar al-Assad) and also from many groups that oppose him.

The crescent moon drug

A flourishing trade that has turned the Arab country into the last narco-state in the world and has extended its tentacles to embrace neighboring Lebanon, also plunged into a very serious political and institutional crisis. Right now captagon – amphetamine derived from a legal treatment for narcolepsy and attention disorders – far outnumbers all other legal export products combined. From Syria and Lebanon, the main producers with hundreds of millions of pills a year, the drug crosses borders to meet the enormous demands of the Gulf countries, led by Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia (MBS). The tablets are swallowed, but can also be crushed and inhaled. The amphetamine it contains stimulates brain activity, increasing -at least initially- the level of attention and self-confidence, while decreasing appetite and the need for sleep. These characteristics make it highly appreciated by a wide range of consumers, including students, who can spend entire nights on books, or taxi drivers, not to mention professionals who want to be focused for many hours.

The Wahhabi kingdom is the main market for the drug, especially among young people, who can take advantage of bin Salman’s openings in the field of entertainment – from concerts to cinemas, passing through rave parties and now Halloween – to enjoy all night . Young women take it mainly, and in large quantities, to lose weight, because it reduces the need to eat. Furthermore, there is an ethical reason, not only in Riyadh but also in other Muslim Gulf countries, from the United Arab Emirates to Qatar, to decree its success: captagon is considered a less dangerous and censored substance than cocaine or alcohol, whose consumption is prohibited (at least theoretically) in Islamic countries. However, the consumption -and abuse- of methamphetamine causes serious long-term damage to the body, with damage to the nervous, muscular and cardiac systems. In addition, the tablets – which are distinguished from other drugs by the presence of the characteristic “C” stamped on both sides – also have other components that are equally dangerous. Moreover, the logo has led consumers in the Arab world to nickname the drug “Abou al-Hilalain” or “Father of the two crescent moons.”

From fun to study, a universal use

The best quality tablets, destined for the Gulf, are white, but there are also yellow, beige and even pink ones, and they come packaged in bags of 200 units each. It’s not just about more or less “halal” entertainment, but for some, especially among immigrants, drugs also allow them to work and earn money. Cheap, discreet and less taboo than alcohol, for many poor Saudis and for those who come from other Asian (or African) countries, captagon is an injection of strength, as an AFP investigation shows. “I can work two or three days without stopping,” says Faisal, a 20-year-old worker who spends up to 40 euros a week on pills, “which has allowed me to double my income and pay off debts. “I finish my first job exhausted early in the morning – observes the young man – but drugs allow me to do a second job as a driver of shared vehicles”. An Egyptian immigrant who works in construction says that he started taking pills because his boss secretly put them in his coffee, so that he would work faster and for longer, “In a short time – he admits – my colleagues and I became addicted “. The price can also vary a lot, from the 25 euros of the premium pills that are sold to the wealthy Saudis to the adulterated and low quality ones that hover around the euro.

Assad and the rebels, a business for all

Those who operate in the illegal trade affirm, on condition of anonymity, that the costs are low and the benefits high, to the point that if only one shipment in 10 goes well, the operation is still a success. At the top of regional drug trafficking there is a network made up of some fifty people of Syrian, Lebanese and Saudi nationality. Some have strong links with the tribal populations in the area, in particular with Bani Khaled’s Bedouin confederation, which from Syria and Lebanon extends its tentacles of ties and interests to Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Even the figures for seizures, while accounting for only a tiny fraction of the trade, are considerable: last year law enforcement seized at least 400 million pills across the Middle East. Customs and drug enforcement agents report that for every shipment they seize, another nine are successful. This means that even with a low average price of €5 per package and only four out of five passing checks, captagon has become an industry worth more than €10 billion, with Syria accounting for 80% of world supply, at least three times higher than the national budget.

In addition, both the family of the Syrian president and the rebel and jihadist groups would be involved in the business. The shadowy network of warlords and profiteers that Assad bought to support him has benefited greatly, including Lebanese Hezbollah, which would play a “significant” role in protecting trade especially along the border. Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based NGO with a dense network of informants on the ground, notes that “Maher al-Assad is one of the main beneficiaries of the captagon trade.” He would receive “a quota” in a personal capacity, while the money obtained from trafficking is also used to pay the armed groups that intervene in the different areas where there are sources of conflict, such as Idlib. On some occasions, the raw material is supplied in bags with the army shield, but the same rebel groups are fully involved in the traffic, exploiting the route that, from the provinces of Sweida and Daraa, on the border with Jordan, leads to Saudi Saudi.

“The captagon has united all parties to the conflict… The government, the opposition, the Kurds and Isis,” says a former senior Damascus official. Throughout this region, drugs “have forged theoretically unthinkable alliances.” Meanwhile, in Syria and Lebanon there is no prospect of improvement and the political, economic and institutional crisis seems destined to last over time, allowing drugs to consolidate as an indispensable pillar to sustain the coffers of both countries. “Syria has become the world epicenter of production by a conscious decision,” confirms Ian Larson, an expert in the sector and director of the COAR consultancy. “With its economy paralyzed by war and sanctions – he adds – Damascus has few other options on the table” while producers and traffickers are convinced that this “is only the beginning”.

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