ASSAD’S BILLION-DOLLAR DRUG INDUSTRY KEEPS REGIME ‘FLUSH WITH MONEY’, WREAKS HAVOC ACROSS REGION

Sixty-five million seized pills in Jordan, 15 million seized pills in Saudi Arabia and 86 million seized pills in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These are just a handful of numbers Gulf Arab countries have dealt with in recent years as the drug Captagon is smuggled across the region. 

Captagon is a highly addictive synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant that has grown in popularity throughout the Middle East. It is largely produced in Syria and Lebanon by networks of individuals connected with Hezbollah and the Syrian military’s elite Fourth Division, led by President Bashar al-Assad’s brother, Maher. 

Caroline Rose, director of the New Lines Institute’s Project on the Captagon Trade, told Fox News Digital Captagon appeals across demographics. 

“The pill’s ability to induce a euphoric rush attracts recreational users as well as those seeking to repress trauma, while others seek out Captagon for its ability to improve productivity, stave sleep for hours at a time and reduce hunger,” Rose said.

“Drug and weapons smuggling from Syria to Jordan, which claimed and injured a number of our brave officers, represent a direct threat to Jordan’s security, and it will continue to be confronted with all determination until it is completely defeated,” Qudah said. 

Amman has responded to the uptick in smuggling with airstrikes in Syria reportedly targeting suspected drug traffickers. Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes. 

Tabler said Assad would have to be incentivized to stop or severely curtail the production of Captagon.

“You can do it with carrots, buying him off. That’s what he wants. He wants reconstruction money,” he explained. “The other way to stop this behavior is through military force. The Jordanians have used that repeatedly over the last month and throughout the last year.”

“That’s the quickest way to stop anybody’s behavior. But you have to be able to sustain it. And there’s just a lot more Captagon than there are bombs, so to speak, to knock them out. So, we’re really at an impasse in trying to figure out how to deal with this.”