Bribes, criminal disputes, and an international drug-smuggling ring worth billions of dollars – no, this is not the trailer of a new thriller currently streaming, but rather the reality in Syria under the regime of President Bashar Assad, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported over the weekend.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Assad, who has survived the civil war tearing his country apart largely thanks to allies Iran and Russia, has used the past decade to turn Syria into what some have called the world's newest narcostate.
Built on Captagon, an illegal and highly addictive amphetamine substance popular across the Arab world the regime's drug scheme has grown into a multibillion-dollar operation. Its importance to the regime is illustrated by the fact that much of the production and distribution of the drug is overseen by the Fourth Armored Division – the Syrian Army's elite unit.
Der Spiegel's report focuses on a dramatic trial taking place in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where prosecutors are trying to prove that a local drug ring is, in fact, part of a much larger drug trafficking network that traces all the way to Syria.
In recent years, security officials in various countries have been able to thwart huge shipments of Captagon by sea. For example, on July 1, 2020, 84 million pills – with a street value of roughly around €1 billion – were seized by Italian authorities in Salerno. In April 2020, Egyptian customs seized a shipment of Captagon and hashish in a container belonging to a Syrian company run by one of Assad's cousins.
The list goes on. In March 2021 a shipment of over 94 million Captagon pills was seized in Malaysia. Other shipments – disguised as legal shipment of items like rubber tires, steel cogwheels, or industrial paper rolls – have been confiscated at ports in Europe, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Drugs are gaining popularity among Gulf youth but Captagon is also very popular among terrorist organizations in the Middle East, affording them the feeling that they are "invincible." In Saudi Arabia, drug abuse is a pandemic with an estimated 40% of drug users consuming Captagon.
Former US special envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn told the German magazine that Captagon has become the Assad's regime's most important export.
"I believe the Assad regime would not survive the loss of the Captagon revenues," he said, explaining that the Syrian regime does not merely turn a blind eye to drug trafficking, rather "they are the cartel."
The report cited the Washington-based think tank New Lines Institute as saying that the total value of the Captagon exported by Syria in 2021 amounted to $5.7 billion in 2021. The country's legal exports last year amounted to $860 million.
While according to the report European ports are currently a mere detour for the drugs real destination, they pose a growing concern for local authorities.
"We have to put a stop to it," a German official told Der Spiegel. "The Syrians are producing the stuff like there's no tomorrow."
According to UN records cited in the report, in 2020 Syria had imported 50 tons of pseudoephedrine – a key ingredient in the pharma industry that is essential for the production of crystal meth.
"Fifty tons is more than half the amount imported by Switzerland, which has a massive pharmaceuticals industry," the report noted.
In 2021, an exiled Syrian businessman told Der Spiegel that the regime's Captagon operation was steadily growing. "They produce in industrial quantities," he said.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
