Dictator and drug baron How Assad raked in millions with the "jihad drug"

Captagon has turned Syria into a drug state. 80 percent of the global supply of the stimulant recently came from Syria. Assad used the drug money to finance his terror regime.

The rebels did not hesitate for long - and simply torched the drugs. Huge quantities of Captagon went up in flames at the Syrian military airport in Mezzeh. The ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad had used the illegal stimulant to finance his terror regime in Syria for years.

Assad was not only a dictator, he was also one of the biggest drug barons in the Middle East. According to the World Drug Report 2023, Captagon is the drug that sustained the regime in Damascus. Described as the "cocaine of the poor" and a "jihad drug", Captagon suppresses pain and anxiety. Users feel no fatigue and remain focused for long periods of time.

Because the drug also increases the concentration of dopamine in the brain, self-confidence and willingness to take risks increase, while the threshold for aggression decreases. The terrorists in the 2015 Paris attacks had Captagon in their blood, and the drug was also found in the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023

Assad's brutal brother controlled the business

80 percent of the global supply of Captagon was recently produced in Syria. The global trade in amphetamine tablets was one of the Syrian government's main sources of income. According to the information, people from Assad's closest circle and the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah were also involved in the smuggling. Their militia fought alongside the government forces in the Syrian civil war.

Captagon has been produced in Syria since the 2000s, initially on a small scale. However, when the civil war began in 2011, the economy collapsed. Warlords and armed groups gained influence, looking for sources of income in the chaos of the conflict and finding them in drug production.

With the government's military gains, more and more people loyal to Assad took over this illegal but lucrative business. Members of the government quickly became "major players in the Captagon trade", conclude the authors of a study by the Washington-based New Lines Institute. Research by the New York Times revealed that much of the production and distribution is overseen by the 4th Division - a notorious elite unit under the command of Maher al-Assad, the president's brutal brother.

Is the billion-dollar business really collapsing?

According to the British government, the global captagon market was worth around 50 billion francs in 2023. Although the name of the drug is misleading. Captagon was originally launched in Germany in the 1960s as a drug for narcolepsy and ADHD. However, it is no longer produced legally. What is smuggled today under the name Captagon does not usually contain the original active ingredient fenetylline, but amphetamine.

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Production is comparatively simple. The production costs for one tablet are in the region of 10 cents. Depending on the quality and sales market, it can be sold for up to 25 US dollars. It is therefore a business worth billions, which was of interest to Assad, not least because of the international sanctions and Syria's idle economy.

Just how big the Captagon deal in Syria actually was will only become clear in the coming weeks. The rebels have captured production sites and shut down distribution channels. Whether the lucrative trade in the drug will actually come to a standstill remains to be seen and will depend above all on how quickly the new rulers in Syria manage to boost the economy.