Syria’s transitional government has dismantled all Captagon production facilities nationwide, Interior Minister Anas Khattab said, in what would mark a major step in curbing a drug trade that has flourished during years of conflict.
In an interview with state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV, Khattab said authorities had “confiscated all production equipment and facilities” and were now working to locate hidden drug caches.
“Unfortunately, the reality is that Syria has become a drug factory and the top global exporter of Captagon in recent years,” Khattab said. “Our responsibility is to change that reality… there are no longer any labs producing Captagon in Syria.”
Captagon, a powerful amphetamine, has fueled a booming illicit industry in Syria over the past decade. With the war crippling the formal economy, the country became the world’s largest narco-state under the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
In the weeks following the collapse of the regime, Syrian security forces destroyed approximately 100 million Captagon pills, large amounts of raw manufacturing material, and nearly 15 tons of hashish.
In the weeks after the regime’s collapse, security forces destroyed roughly 100 million Captagon pills, large quantities of raw manufacturing materials, and about 15 tonnes of hashish.
Khattab said dozens of dismantled factories had operated in key trafficking areas, including the Damascus countryside, the Lebanese border region, and the Mediterranean coast. Many were located in zones previously controlled by the elite Fourth Division, commanded by Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad.
Authorities have also reported major seizures in recent weeks. On May 15, nine million pills were confiscated in Aleppo—five million of which had already been smuggled into Turkey. Days later, another four million pills were intercepted at the port of Latakia.
The Mediterranean port city of Latakia had become a major hub for Captagon shipments, with drug hauls traced from the port to destinations across Europe and North Africa. In June 2020, Italian authorities seized more than 14 tonnes of the drug at the port of Salerno near Naples—the largest shipment on record, valued at about 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion).
Captagon was originally developed in 1960s West Germany as a treatment for attention deficit disorder, narcolepsy and depression. Banned in most countries by the mid-1980s, it later became a popular recreational drug in the Middle East, especially among Syrian fighters. Modern variants often contain a mix of stimulants and other substances, including caffeine, paracetamol and theophylline.
A 2024 report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that 82 percent of Captagon seized across the Middle East over the past five years originated in Syria, with another 17 percent traced to Lebanon.
Looking ahead, Khattab said the government’s next priority is to expand addiction treatment and rehabilitation services.