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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
William Christou in Damascus

Sacks of chemicals, plastic fruit … and millions of pills: inside a Damascus Captagon factory

Captagon Syria Damascus United States
HTS rebels dump pills out of fake copper wiring
HTS rebels dump pills out of fake copper wiring in computer towers in a Captagon factory on the outskirts of Douma. Photograph: David Lombeida/The Guardian

It was no secret, everyone seemed to know where it was. When asked for directions, the coffee vendor pointed up the hill. “The Captagon factory? Straight ahead.”

On the outskirts of Damascus, just a 20-minute drive away from the centre of the Syrian capital, lay a sprawling industrial complex. Professed to be a soap factory, its products were anything but clean.

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