Indian Council of World Affairs

Abstract: This paper examines the growing production of fenethylline (Captagon), a stimulant drug, in Syria and its consumption in large parts of the Arab world. The paper also aims to explore how, over the years, the production of Captagon in Syria and its illicit trade have emerged as sources of revenue for the Syrian regime too. 

Introduction 

Amidst the constant preoccupation of political analysts and commentators with exploring the multiple aspects of civil war in Syria, what has failed to receive their attention is the emergence of a multibillion-dollar illicit drug trade in the larger Arab world, with Syria occupying the centre stage. 

There could be several other drugs manufactured and sold in the Arab markets, but over a decade, a new stimulant, fenethylline[i], known as Captagon as its trade mark, has become a principal drug produced in Syria, and the Arab drug market is flooded with it. Captagon is an illegal addictive amphetamine drug. Over the years, it has become the most sought-after object for any youth gathering or celebration, and most of the parties or functions are not complete without the consumption of Captagon, particularly in rich nations like Saudi Arabia or the UAE. 

Approximately, 80% of the total global production of Captagon takes place in Syria alone,[ii] and it has huge mobility in the markets of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Turkiye and other contiguous nations. The production of Captagon in Syria and the gradual emergence of a big drug syndicate has turned war-torn Syria into the world’s newest narcostate, making the nation a replica of Colombia and Afghanistan of the past. 

The demands for Captagon have grown multiple times in the past decade, and the value of legal transactions has no match with the current level of burgeoning illegal transactions in Captagon. The Captagon drug syndicate is run by warlords or militias scattered across the region. The drug oligarchs reportedly enjoy the patronage of the Syrian regime as well, and extended family members of President Assad are allegedly equally complicit in this billion-dollar profession. [iii]

In light of the above, this paper will examine the different aspects and dynamics of growing markets for Captagon in the larger Arab world and how, amidst a decade of civil war, the country has become a hub for its manufacturing, packaging and marketing. The paper will explore how power structure in Syria has used the growing demands for the Captagon tablets among Arab youth as a geopolitical ploy amidst the civil war to narrow the diplomatic choice of Syria’s strategic adversaries (Gulf rulers). It will further delve into how the growing attraction towards Captagon seems to have helped end the isolation of Syria in the Arab world. 

Syria at the Centre Stage of Captagon Trade

For the first time, captagon was manufactured by German pharmaceutical company in 1962[iv] for treating depression, hypertension ans disorder[v]. Its consumption later spread to other European countries. But two decades later, the drug was found to be an addictive stimulant with several side effects. Eventually, in 1986, it was banned by the World Health Organization (WHO)[vi] . Despite the ban, its illicit version continued to be produced in countries like Bulgaria and Türkiye and the Arab world became the most attractive destination for Captagon tablets. 

Amidst the peak of the civil war in Syria and the seizure of large parts of Syrian territories by ISIS and other militias around 2014–15, Syria turned into an axis of Captagon in terms of production, consumption and thoroughfare for its regional and global smuggling. The boom in the Captagon industry in Syria could be directly linked to existing political chaos, economic ruin and the regime’s hunt for alternative sources of revenue in the face of persisting political disorder. The production of Captagon in Syria first flourished with the cooperation of chemists who eagerly joined the emerging drug cartels in the absence of job opportunities and its marketing parts managed by a scattered group of militias. The militias do not merely help smuggle the drug across the border, but it is in large circulation among the militias as well to fight their fatigue and elevate their mood, and hence, Captagon is also known as Captain Courage[vii] apart from being called the “drug of Jihad” and “poor man’s cocaine.”[viii] The pill carries another name, “Abu Hilalain” (father of the two crescents), as it is stamped with two crescents.[ix]

Today, there are around 14 Captagon manufacturing centres in Syria, which are mostly based in regime-controlled areas. [x] There are reports of large tracts of agricultural land being used to grow hashish owing to the prospects of higher revenues. After the regime regained control of most of the territories in 2018, production of Captagon increased as the number of confiscated Captagon consignment rose between 6 and 21 folds between 2018 and 2022. In 2021, the Captagon production in Syria was to the tune of $5.7 billion, and this is the value of only seized substance and not all the substance produced.[xi]

Soon, after Syria was put under Western sanction and the national economy began to slide downward, political elites, business oligarchs and military clichés turned to this lucrative business with the patronage of the regime as a new way to make wealth. Because of the regime’s complicity in the illicit trade, drug tycoons are reported to pay back the regime by funding political campaigns in the form of organising pro-regime rallies, putting up billboards and collecting donations for the regime. 

The US, Britain and the EU have repeatedly accused members of the Syrian ruling family and other regime-supported militias (Hezbollah and other small groups) of being part of the drug syndicates and making huge wealth.[xii] The US, in September 2022, introduced the Captagon Control Act (Countering Assad’s Proliferation Trafficking and Garnering of Narcotics Act) [xiii] to punish the export of illegal drugs by the regime and described the Captagon as a threat to transnational security. The US further imposed additional sanctions against Mehar al-Assad, brother-in-law of President Assad who, according to the US, acted as a broker between the government and the producers.[xiv]

The US move was welcomed by Jordan because it was directly affected as it shares a 378 km-long border with Syria. The UN also imposed a series of sanctions against Syria for its role in supporting illicit drug trade in the region. For the regime’s involvement in the illicit trade, the UK put in new sanctions, and one of its official statements said that the Assad regime is a great beneficiary of the illicit trade and described it as a “financial lifeline” for Assad. 

A similar situation almost existed in Lebanon, and after Syria, it became another major crosspoint for the Captagon trade. Over the years, several makeshift industries have sprung up in many villages in Lebanon.[xv] The abundance of hashish in the Beqaa Valley[xvi] in the country too helps the growth of this industry. Following the 2018 economic crisis in Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and Lebanese border areas emerged as a new centre of Captagon production, and the region has turned into a sort of Captagon Economic Zone. 

Captagon and Its Markets in the Region 

Though Captagon is primarily produced in Syria and Lebanon, it has major markets in the Gulf countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, besides Iraq, Türkiye, Greece, Romania, Italy and Africa. They are largely smuggled overland via Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon and from there, the consignments are passed on to rich Gulf countries. Jordan serves as a gateway for the supply of Captagon to Gulf countries. The smugglers in Syria sometimes take the help of donkeys to take the consignments across the border, and vendors often attach Captagon to drones and fly them across Syria’s territory. The drug trade between Jordan and Syria witnessed a further surge after Syria took control of southern Syria in 2018 and even more after 2021 when both sides decided to open up their borders.[xvii]

As mentioned earlier, the regime in Syria also extends support to the drug oligarch, so significant numbers of consignments are loaded from government-controlled ports of Latakia and others,[xviii] for respective destinations, mostly for Jordan-Saudi border. As per the latest report, around 20% of the consignments entering Jordan for their destination in Saudi Arabia or the UAE are consumed by Jordanians themselves.[xix]

But in recent months, Syria- Iraq and Iraq-Türkiye have almost replaced Jordan-Saudi border[xx] as the transit point for supply to Saudi Arabia and the UAE because the former (Jordan) has intensified the monitoring on its border. According to a report, the Iraqi government arrested 16000 people in an illicit drug trade in 2022, and half of them were sent to prisons.[xxi]

Since Türkiye and Iraq replaced Jordan as a major transit point  for Captagon, , most of the consignments are now seized on the Türkiye-Syria border, and in March  2022, a huge consignments of 12.3 million pills were intercepted at the Ambarli port in Türkiye.[xxii] Similarly, the Anbar province in Iraq, bordering Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, has turned into another epicentre of illegal transactions in the region. 

Over the years, hundreds of millions of Captagon pills have been smuggled into Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries,[xxiii] which are used rampantly as a source of recreation and to overcome the psychological suffering emanating from a high level of poverty, unemployment and constant fear of a horrible future. In 2022, Kuwait busted two syndicates involved in an illegal Captagon trade with the consignment of four million pills and another of 25,000 pills. Both these consignments had taken off from Türkiye.[xxiv] The UAE’s interior ministry in September 2023 informed that an anti-drug squad seized more than 80 million Captagon tablets with a market value of 700 million Euros.[xxv] In August 2023, Jordanian border forces seized 63000 Captagon pills and 588 palm-sized hashish (one of the core ingredients of Captagon) tablets when armed smugglers were trying to enter Jordan.[xxvi]

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regularly announces the seizure of Captagon pills from Syria and Lebanon. In 2021, the Kingdom had seized 119 million pills,[xxvii] while in 2017, the figure was 95 million.[xxviii]In August 2022, authorities in Saudi Arabia seized more than 46 million pills smuggled in a shipment of flour, and that was the largest smuggling attempt in the single operation in recent time.[xxix] Again in September last year, Saudi Arabia intercepted a huge consignment of pills hidden in crates of fake plastic to evade customs officials. [xxx] Already in 2021, the Kingdom had banned Lebanese imports due to the growing cases of Captagon being found in packets of eatables and chemical products.[xxxi] Saudi Arabia has emerged as the largest and oldest market for Captagon, and over the past year, each month around six drug rackets have been busted. Captagon alone constitutes about 40% of stimulants used by the Kingdom’s youths.[xxxii]The youth from the Gulf nations are a special target of drug peddlers because of their paying capacity. Moreover, they have few means of recreation or amusement. The majority of those who are arrested for their involvement in drug crimes are from Syria, followed by Saudi Arabia, and the rest are from Yemen and Pakistan.[xxxiii]

In 2022, 370 million pills[xxxiv] were seized across the Mediterranean and the Gulf region, and it represents only a small part of the total trade as the bulk of the transactions go unreported. Over the years, the trade has grown multiple times. In 2021, a total of 250 million pills were seized across the Europe, highlighting an 18-fold increase between 2017 and 2021.[xxxv] Over the past few years, the seizure of Captagon has become a routine exercise in in Türkiye, Greece, Italy, Egypt, Romania, France and Germany. Between 2018 and 2023, the EU countries seized about 127 million Captagon pills.[xxxvi]

Captagon as a Drug Economy 

It is not merely a question of production or consumption of Captagon, but over the years the whole course has morphed into a sort of drug economy. In Syria, it has become a flourishing business where drug oligarchs and extended family members of the regime are working allegedly hand in hand to amass huge wealth. Within a few years of the rise of ISIS in 2014, the Assad regime almost subdued ISIS along with other rebel forces. However, instead of reigning in the Captagon production and its marketing, the regime itself not only joined the syndicate but also extended protection and support to compensate for the economic devastation it suffered amidst a decade-old civil war. The drug venture in the country and its access to larger Arab markets help the regime to offset the economic impact of the civil war. 

In 2021, the total value of Captagon transactions across West Asia was $10 billion. As per a report published by New Line Institute ( a US-based think tank) , 90% of Captagon trade occurs through illegal means.[xxxvii] Depending on the quality, each Captagon pill costs between $5 and $25. In 2021, the regime in Syria earned $5 billion, which was not a bad return for its loss of control over its oil wells and agricultural lands.[xxxviii] Today, the transaction in Captagon is the biggest source of foreign currency for the regime, as 90% of the foreign currency comes through illicit trade.[xxxix] Now, Captagon constitutes the biggest export item in Syria, and in 2022, earning through Captagon was threefold more than the combined trade of the Mexican drug cartel.[xl] According to a group of independent experts on drug trade, an estimated worth of illicit Captagon trade in and around Syria could be at the tune of  $57 billion.[xli]and today it has become a form of economic lifeline for the regime. 

Captagon as a Geopolitical Tool for President Assad 

The Gulf rulers were alarmed after the report of large-scale consumption of Captagon among the youths in Gulf nations emerged. The best option for them was to stop it at its origin alone (Syria). The leaders from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Egypt held several meetings exhorting the Syrian government to clamp down on the chains of drug smugglers who were operating inside the country.[xlii] There are reports that Jordan was at the forefront in bringing back Syria into the Arab League because it viewed the move as a strategic ploy to induce Syria to act against the drug syndicates. Syria was readmitted into the Arab League in the Jeddah Summit (2023) after the joint effort of many Gulf countries to woo Assad to reign in the drug cartel. Though the red carpet welcome to Assad by Arab leaders was not appreciated by Western leaders, for Arab leaders, containing the entry of the highly addictive Captagon into their territories was the top priority. Saudi Arabia, during the visit of its foreign minister in April 2023, is reported to have promised an investment of $4 billion to Syria in exchange for curbing the production and exports of Captagon.[xliii] Though Saudi officials denied the report, the statement also said that even if the Saudi government offers the said amount, it would cost far less than the damage the drug has, so far, inflicted on the youths of the country.[xliv]But one report stated that the amount was a form of agricultural aid to the government of Syria.[xlv] President Assad seems to have weaponised the production of Captagon for political purposes. To some extent, he has succeeded in his strategy to use the Captagon as a diplomatic and strategic tool to put pressure on Arab rulers to soften their stance against his government. 

This small pill seems to have given great leverage to hitherto Pariah Assad with the Gulf monarchs, who helped end the regional isolation of President Assad with the hope that the normalisation of ties with Syria would help combat the growing drug culture in the region. President Assad, by making even this limited gesture to fight the menace, could compel the Arab leaders to fund the reconstruction of Syria, regain its lost position in regional politics and ask the Gulf rulers to mediate with the West for revoking the sanction against Syria. 

After Jordan opened up its border with Syria in 2021, borders on both sides turned into a major hotspot of illegal entry of umpteen consignments of Captagon, prompting several police and military operations by the Jordanian government. In an air operation in on May 8, 2023, a lynchpin of the drug trade from Syria along with his family members was killed.[xlvi] In the same operation, a Daraa-based Captagon factory in Syria was also destroyed.[xlvii] Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Aymen Safadi, neither denied nor accepted the involvement of the government in the operation inside Syria but said that the government had the plan to take harsh measures to curb the drug smuggling and called it a threat to national security.[xlviii] Before that, in January 2022, Jordan’s police forces in a fierce battle had killed 27 Syrian smugglers who were trying to cross over to Jordan.[xlix] The Jordanian authority recently reported that there are around 160 organised smuggling groups operating on the Syria-Jordan border.[l] The operation on 8 May 2023 took place a week after the meeting between Syria’s Foreign Minister and the Arab leaders (Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia), where the Arab leaders were reportedly told that curbing Captagon smuggling is directly associated with the easing of Western economic sanctions against Syria.[li]

President Assad wants to receive something in return for punishing smugglers because there seems to be no other incentive for Assad to engage its state machinery to stop something that is also fetching economic dividends for the country. The concerns of Arab rulers vis-à-vis the growing production of Captagon and its penetration into the Gulf market are no less than their worry about growing Iranian influence in Syria or the entry of Syrian refugees into their country. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be argued that since the eruption of the civil war in Syria, most research has focused on multiple dynamics emerging out of the devastating war. They failed to look into the rise of an equally terrible phenomenon in the form of drug culture across the region. In the past decade or so, the consumption of Captagon has witnessed an exponential rise not only in Syria but particularly in Gulf nations. One of the key reasons is easy access to money for youth living there. The rich nations remain the target of organised groups of smugglers because of their wealth. What has helped the surge in Captagon production in Syria is the absence of governance for long and the growing economic stake of the regime in the trade, as it is the easiest and shortest means of earning billions. 

The collapse of the state system and the emergence of porous borders, which is also called “a line in the sand,” across the region have engendered a new surge in the process of production and consumption and its illegal hoarding and marketing in neighbouring countries. Given the huge economic deficit and almost total collapse of economic chains, the regime could find these syndicates too attractive and lucrative. However, with time, these syndicates could pose a challenge to the regime itself if it later decides to ban its production. Though Syria is the epicentre of production, the Gulf nations are the real victims as significant parts of the consignment are making their way into their territories and are in wide circulation amongst the youth. Their lure for the pills cannot be overcome through conventional policies of crackdown or forming harsh laws, it rather requires a comprehensive and collective approach. This was perhaps one of the reasons that forced the Gulf rulers to befriend President Assad.

*****

*Dr. Fazzur Rahman Siddiqui, Senior Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
The views expressed are personal. 

Endnotes

[i] Captagon: From War Zone in Syria to the Gulf Streets, BBC Arabic, December 20, 2021, Accessed https://encr.pw/im3pD August 30, 2024.

[ii] War on Captagon Key to Syria Return to Arab League, France 24, May 19, 2023, Accessed https://rb.gy/vvvbc7 August 28, 2024.

[iii] Raya Jalabi, Assad cousins hit with sanction over amphetamine trade that funds regime, Financial Times, March 28, 2023,Accessed    https://www.ft.com/content/de522480-4738-49fb-985e-c0e1538846ff   September 11, 2024

[iv]What is the Drug Captagon and How it is Linked with Germany, DW, August 14, 2024, Accessed https://shorturl.at/uq7yS September 5, 2024.

[v] Vanda Felbab-Brown, The Middle East is Awash in Drugs, Foreign Affairs, April 11, 2024, Accessed https://rb.gy/5jvem6 September 01, 2024.

[vi] Captagon: From War Zone in Syria to the Gulf Streets, BBC Arabic, https://encr.pw/im3pD.

[vii] Vanda Felbab-Brown, The Middle East is Awash in Drugs https://rb.gy/5jvem6.

[viii] Emir Nadar, New Captagon Trade is Link to Top Official Found, BBC, June 27, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/sgGSI September 2, 2024.

[ix] War on Captagon Key to Syria Return to Arab League https://rb.gy/vvvbc7

[x] Drug Trade in Syria: An Analytical Study, Syria Dialogue Centre, March 17, 2022, Accessed https://encr.pw/uQIVk August 15, 2024.

[xi] https://acesse.dev/38GQB.

[xii]https://acesse.dev/8JVRk.

[xiii]Captagon Act, Congress.Gov, September 21, 2022, Accessed https://shorturl.at/N7gSN August 4, 2024.

[xiv]

[xv] News Week: The Syrian War Promotes Stimulant Tarde in Lebanon, Alyum-al-Sabe (Arabic), November 5, 2025, Accessed https://encr.pw/im2QA August 25, 2024

[xvi] https://acesse.dev/0ZleC

[xvii] Trends in Drug Trade and its Impact on Politics (2015-2023) Harmon Centre for Contemporary Studies (Arabic), August 2024, Accessed www.harmoon.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/تجارة-الكبتاغون.pdf, September 5, 2024. 

[xviii]Ben Hubbard & Hwaida Saad, On Syria Ruin Drug Empire Flourishes, New York Times, December 5, 2021, Accessed https://l1nq.com/x1jS6 August 26, 2024.

[xix]

[xx] Caroline Rose, Iraq and Türkiye: Two Transit Countries to Watch in the Captagon Drug Trade, New Lines Institute, April 4, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/9F2UO August 5, 2024.

[xxi] Captagon Trade is Prospering in Iraq, Iraq Ultra (Arabic) June 14, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/m9ck5 August 3, 2024.

[xxii] Caroline Rose, https://encr.pw/9F2UO August 5, 2024.

[xxiii] Karim Chehayeb, A Little White Pill Gives Syria Leverage with Arab States https://encr.pw/8JVRk.

[xxiv] Caroline Rose, https://encr.pw/9F2UO August 5, 2024.

[xxv] Drug that makes Syrian regime million trafficked through Europe, Report says, Politico, September 13, 20233, Accessed https://shorturl.at/cXXJO July 12, 2024.

[xxvi] Jordanian Army Thwarts Major Drug Smuggling Efforts on the Border, Aljazeera (Arabic), August 19, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/Wbwd6 September 4, 2024.

[xxvii] Drug War: What do You Know about Captagon Produced in Syria, https://encr.pw/LqDoV.

[xxviii] Captagon: From War Zone in Syria to the Gulf Streets, BBC Arabic, https://encr.pw/im3pD.

[xxix] Drug War: What do You Know about Captagon Produced in Syria, DW (Arabic), September 24, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/LqDoV August 5, 2024.

[xxx] Vanda Felbab-Brown, The Middle East is Awash in Drugs, https://rb.gy/5jvem6.

[xxxi] https://acesse.dev/0ZleC.

[xxxii] The Emergence of Old Drug Capitano as a New Illicit Drug, Cureus, 2024, February, 16 (2) Accessed https://acesse.dev/EASJ3 August 3, 2024.

[xxxiii]Trends in Drug Trade and its Impact on Politics, (2015-2023) Harmon Centre https://encr.pw/eLAXc.

[xxxiv] Karam Shaar & Caroline Rose, The Syrian Regime’s Captagon End Games, New Lines Institute, n. d, Accessed https://l1nq.com/zl7qF August 20, 2024.

[xxxv] Ben Hubbard & Hwaida Saad, On Syria Ruin Drug Empire Flourishes, New York Times, Accessed https://l1nq.com/x1jS6.

[xxxvi] Drug War: What do You Know about Captagon Produced in Syria, DW (Arabic) Accessed https://encr.pw/LqDoV.

[xxxvii] War on Captagon Key to Syria Return in the AL, https://rb.gy/vvvbc7

[xxxviii] Jordan-Syria Border: From Captagon to Weapons, Harmon Centre for Contemporary Studies, December 22, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/hP0Z2 August 1, 2024.

[xxxix] Syria Become the World’s Largest Narcostate, The Live Mint, April 17, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/GTDMK August 1, 2024.

[xl] Tackling the Illicit drug trade fuelling Assad’s war machine, Press Release, Gov.UK, March 28, 2023, Accessed https://shorturl.at/Xq6Fp August 1, 2024.

[xli]Tackling the Illicit drug trade fuelling Assad’s war machine, Press Release, Gov.UK, March 28, 2023, Accessed https://shorturl.at/Xq6Fp August 1, 2024.

[xlii] Vanda Felbab-Brown, The Middle East is Awash in Drugs, Foreign Affairs, https://rb.gy/5jvem6.

[xliii] War on Captagon Key to Syria Return to Arab League, France https://rb.gy/vvvbc7.

[xliv] Karim Chehayeb, A Little White Pill Gives Syria Leverage with Arab States https://encr.pw/8JVRk.

[xlv] Reuter: Arab Takes Syria Back in the Arab League But Want without Captagon Trade, Al-Jaded (Arabic), May 10, 2023, Accessed https://l1nq.com/NsQTX August 23, 2024.

[xlvi] Jordanian Air Raid Kiles Drug Warlord and his Family, Euro news), May 8, 2023, Accessed https://shorturl.at/syA1c August 19, 2024.

[xlvii] Karim Chehayeb, A Little White Pill Gives Syria Leverage with Arab States https://encr.pw/8JVRk

[xlviii] Karim Chehayeb, A Little White Pill Gives Syria Leverage with Arab States, Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2023, Accessed https://encr.pw/8JVRk August 10, 2024.

[xlix] Jordan Army Says it Killed 27 Smugglers from Syria, BBC, January 27, 2022, Accessed https://encr.pw/xYRn3 September 2, 2024.

[l] Christina Steenkamp, Captagon and Conflict: Drugs and war on the border between Jordan and Syria, Mediterranean Politics (Routledge), 2024, Accessed https://shorturl.at/ymKis August 2, 2024.

[li] Reuter: Saudi Arabia Makes Huge Offer to Syria in Exchange of Stopping Captagon, An-Nahar (Arabic), May 10, 2023, Accessed https://l1nq.com/FA93F August 29, 2024.