A poster of President Bashar al-Assad. He has presided over a decade-long civil conflict. Photograph Credit score: Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Occasions.
After greater than a decade of conflict, most Syrians dwell in a state of poverty. For some, it has turn into a rustic by which to turn into wealthy.
Syria is a “narcostate.” Which means the Syrian authorities and its cronies revenue from the sale of unlawful medication. The individuals in cost assist criminals export illicit medication to different international locations.
Unlawful medication are actually Syria’s greatest export.
Syria’s predominant product is an addictive amphetamine named captagon. Captagon is standard in Saudi Arabia and different Arab states.
The captagon enterprise stretches throughout Syria. Workshops make the capsules Packing vegetation conceal the medication for networks of smugglers who ship them overseas.
A lot of the captagon enterprise is overseen by the Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian Military. The brother of the President of Syria leads the unit. Different gamers embrace businessmen with ties to the federal government.
The drug commerce comes after years of conflict. Most of Syria is poor. The Syrian authorities wanted new methods to generate income.
Italian regulation enforcement officers seized 14 tons of captagon on the port of Salerno final 12 months. Photograph Credit score: Ciro Fusco/EPA.
Amongst others, Greece, Italy, and Saudi Arabia seized a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of captagon capsules. Most got here from ports in Syria. Officers discovered capsules hidden in rolls of paper and steel gears. The Malaysian authorities discovered capsules sealed inside rubber trolley wheels.
What’s captagon? It’s a drug first made by a German firm to deal with consideration deficit dysfunction. Customers in Saudi Arabia and different Gulf states started taking it to spice up power. It helped with exams. Quickly, individuals had been taking it for work, partying, and driving lengthy distances.
The captagon capsules have two crescents. They received the Arabic nickname “abu hilalain” or “the one with two moons.”
The drug is addictive. Authorities banned it within the late Eighties. Folks need them greater than ever.
Captagon bought at the moment comprises a mixture of amphetamine, caffeine, and different fillers. Low-cost variations promote for lower than a greenback a tablet in Syria. Larger high quality capsules promote for $14 a tablet in Saudi Arabia.
The conflict in Syria was a possibility for captagon sellers. Medicine went to fighters on all sides to extend their braveness in battle. Syria had all of the tools and consultants wanted to make it. Smuggling routes to Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq grew.
The conflict ruined the economic system of Syria. Highly effective individuals started investing in captagon. A cartel of army officers, militia leaders, merchants, and family and friends of President Bashar al-Assad runs the present.
The related are making billions of {dollars}.
Supply: The New York Occasions December 5, 2021
