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EXPLAINED: 2 | Vintage Vibes

Iraqi police seize 250,000 Captagon pills at school building

Syria has pledged to fight drug smuggling in talks with Arab neighbours, but the stimulant keeps moving across region.

Al Jazeera

A little white pill, Captagon, gives Syria's Assad a strong tool in winning over Arab states

Western governments have been frustrated by the red carpet treatment Arab countries have been giving Syria’s president, fearing their reconciliation with the pariah state will undermine efforts to push a solution to its long-running civil war

The Independent UK

How important is Captagon in al-Assad’s return to the Arab fold?

The billions of dollars Syria’s al-Assad is believed to be making from Captagon have given him a financial lifeline.

Al Jazeera

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War on Captagon key to Syria's return to Arab League

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will attend his first Arab League summit in 12 years in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Friday. His government’s controversial return to the bloc comes as Arab states seek to curtail Syria’s thriving trade in Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine known as the “poor…

France 24

Hezbollah leader denies reports linking the Iran-backed group to Syria's drug dealer

The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has denied reports that linked one of Syria’s most well-known drug dealers who was killed earlier this week to the Iran-backed group

The Independent UK

Analysis-Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade

Having brought President Bashar al-Assad in from the cold, Arab states want him to rein in Syria's flourishing drugs trade in exchange for even closer ties. But as Damascus makes its own demands, the way ahead appears far from simple.

Reuters

Captagon: the drug fuelling the Gulf party scene - and Syria's finances

From bloody frontlines to buzzing construction sites and even high-end parties, the amphetamine commonly known as captagon - has entrenched itself in the Middle East.

Reuters

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What is Captagon, the addictive drug mass-produced in Syria?

The drug, often smuggled to Gulf states, has been a key topic in discussions over Syria’s re-entry to the Arab League.

Al Jazeera

Saudi Authorities Foil Attempt to Smuggle 4 Million Captagon Pills Through Land Port

Saudi security authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle more than four million Captagon tablets through Al-Batha land crossing. In a statement on Friday, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority said up to 4,152,000 tablets were found hidden in a consignment shipped into the Kingdom via Al-Batha. The report said…

Asharq Al-Awsat

EU sanctions Syria's ruling Assad family over amphetamine trafficking

The European Union has imposed sanctions on several Syrians – including members of President Bashar al-Assad’s family – accusing them of producing and trafficking the stimulant drug captagon, a key source of income for the Damascus regime.

Radio France Internationale

Syria Condemns EU Sanctions over Captagon Business

Syria on Tuesday condemned the European Union’s new sanctions on Damascus over making and trafficking an amphetamine saying the move was based on lies. The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement came a day after the EU imposed sanctions on several Syrians, including members of President Bashar Assad’s family, blaming them for…

Asharq Al-Awsat

EU slaps sanctions on relatives of Syria’s al-Assad over drugs

European Council says production and trafficking of amphetamine has become ‘a regime-led business model’ in Syria.

Al Jazeera

US Warns Assad: No Impunity for Users of Chemical Weapons

The United States slammed on Friday the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, warning that it will hold him to account for the chemical attacks it had launched during the conflict that erupted in 2011. “In January, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found the Assad regime responsible…

Asharq Al-Awsat

Southern Syria: Sanctions Alone Cannot Eliminate Captagon Industry

Local leaders in southern Syria underestimated the impact of the sanctions imposed by the United States and Britain on Syrian figures involved in cooperating with the Syrian regime in the Captagon trade. They stressed that combating this phenomenon required a military force and the launching of development projects that would…

Asharq Al-Awsat

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Al Jazeera

US announces sanctions against Assad cousins over drug trade

US Treasury officials say that the Assad government has used drug trafficking as a source of illicit revenue.

Reuters

U.S. sanctions Syrian leader Assad's cousins, others over drug trade -Treasury

The United States on Tuesday imposed new sanctions against six people including two cousins of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for their role in the production or export of Captagon, a dangerous amphetamine, a Treasury Department statement said.

The Guardian - UK

Bashar al-Assad seizes his chance for a comeback after Syrian earthquake

Arab neighbours who snubbed president for waging a war against his own people are courting him. What is behind the new attitude?

Asharq Al-Awsat

US Congress Approves Bill against 'Assad's Captagon Trade'

The US Congress approved a draft resolution that lays down a US strategy to stop drug production and trafficking and dismantle networks linked to the Syrian regime and President Bashar al-Assad. Lawmakers introduced the bill into the 2023 Department of Defense budget, passed by the Senate last Thursday, with the…

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Bangkok Post

Captagon connection: How Syria became a narco state

BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon: A decade of appalling civil war has left Syria fragmented and in ruins but one thing crosses every front line: a drug called captagon.

Asharq Al-Awsat

Iraq: 90% of Narcotics Come from Iran

The Iraqi government’s efforts to raise awareness on the dangers of narcotics and to curb drug trafficking are yet to yield effective solutions, as the country has been suffering from a wide spread of drug abuse and trafficking, since the ousting of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. Well-informed officials said…

Asharq Al-Awsat

New US Strategy to Limit Captagon Production in Syria

The US House of Representatives passed Tuesday a bill to counter drug production and trafficking and dismantle networks linked to the Assad regime in Syria. The bipartisan bill said that the Captagon trade linked to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is a transnational security threat, noting that the…

Al Jazeera

Syria seizes hummus bowls made out of crushed Captagon pills

The amphetamine has become one of the most popular drugs in the Middle East, with trade valued at $5.7bn.

Asharq Al-Awsat

Jordan Army Thwarts Drugs Smuggling Operation from Syria

The Jordanian army announced on Saturday that its forces busted an operation to smuggle drugs across the border from Syria. They seized over 600,000 Captagon pills and 578 palm-sized sheets of hashish. A source at the command headquarters said that troops applied the rules of engagement, which led to the…

Asharq Al-Awsat

US Congress Takes Action Against Syria’s Captagon

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved a draft resolution that lays out a US strategy to disrupt and dismantle narcotics production and trafficking and affiliated networks linked to the Assad regime in Syria. The draft, submitted by bipartisan lawmakers, says the Captagon trade linked to the Assad regime is…

Asharq Al-Awsat

Damascus Turns from Drugs Transit Point to Trafficking Hub

As the Syrian regime reclaimed regions that were out of its control in 2018, the drug trade in the war-torn country moved on towards a new phase. The trade exploded with the eruption of the conflict in 2011. Syria used to be a crossing point for drugs smuggled from Afghanistan…

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