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The Latest Breaking News from Captagon

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

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

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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

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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

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.

Al Jazeera

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.

Reuters

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?

The Guardian - UK

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…

Asharq Al-Awsat

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.

Bangkok Post

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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…

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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…

Asharq Al-Awsat

Syria Seizes Record 2.3 Tons of Captagon

Syrian counter-narcotics units seized a record haul of 2.3 tons of the amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon, the interior ministry announced Wednesday. Law enforcement officers had earlier discovered 249 kilos of captagon hidden in steel machinery inside containers ready to leave the Mediterranean port of Latakia, AFP said. The ensuing…

Asharq Al-Awsat

Jordan Foils Drug Smuggling Attempt on Syria Border

The Jordanian Border Guard foiled early on Sunday an infiltration and smuggling attempt along the kingdom's border with Syria, reported the state news agency Petra. An official military source in the General Command of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army said the army applied the rules of engagement with the group…

Al Jazeera

Iraqi police seize more than 6 million Captagon amphetamine pills

Syria is the Middle East’s main producer of the drug Captagon and Saudi Arabia is the main consumer market.

Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia rekindles ties with cash-strapped Lebanon

Improvement in relations between Lebanon and Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia come before May’s general elections.

Asharq Al-Awsat

Report: Captagon Trade Spirals to Top $5 Billion in 2021

Trade in the amphetamine-type stimulant captagon in the Middle East grew exponentially in 2021 to top $5 billion, posing an increasing health and security risk to the region, a report said. Research by the New Lines Institute, seen by AFP, paints an alarming picture of the impact booming captagon production…

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