The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report on Monday, 22 December, assessing the state of Captagon production in Syria one year after the fall of the Assad regime. The report confirms a significant disruption in large-scale manufacturing operations.
According to the UNODC, the Syrian government has dismantled 15 industrial laboratories and 13 smaller storage facilities used for Captagon production since December 2024.
Before the political transition, Syria’s daily output of Captagon reached millions of tablets, the report noted—quantities sufficient to sustain regional smuggling networks for years had they not been intercepted.
The UNODC added that it has not verified claims that former Syrian production networks have relocated operations to other continents, including Africa.
Gulf states remain the primary market for Captagon, though intensified interdiction efforts over the past year have led to noticeable shortages in several destination markets.
The Office confirmed the seizure of at least 177 million tablets—equivalent to 30 tons—across the Arab region since December 2024. It also reported that traffickers continue to experiment with new smuggling routes and rely on transit and repackaging hubs in Western and Central Europe and North Africa.
Regional Cooperation
The UNODC praised what it described as “renewed efforts to strengthen regional cooperation” in combating Captagon production and trafficking, including enhanced intelligence sharing and coordinated operations.
This cooperation, it said, has produced a “significant increase” in seizures during 2025, with several of the year’s largest interdiction operations achieved through joint action.
UNODC Director of Operations Bo Mathiasen stated:
“While the drug market has expanded in recent years, leading to regional fragmentation, the current imperative is unity.”
He added that increased cooperation, intelligence exchange, and joint operations have resulted in record seizure numbers in 2025.
Mathiasen concluded:
“This demonstrates that political will and international cooperation can disrupt even the most complex illicit criminal economies.”
The UN Office warned, however, that continued pressure on Captagon networks may push traffickers and users toward methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs, accelerating their spread across the region.
It called for a comprehensive approach that strengthens evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery systems alongside sustained enforcement efforts.
Arrests of “Key Figures” in the Drug Trade
Syrian Interior Minister Anas al-Khattab announced the arrest of three major “kingpins” involved in the Captagon trade, saying details of their operations will be disclosed in the coming days.
He emphasized that the arrests are part of an intensified campaign to dismantle major drug-manufacturing and distribution networks.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on 6 December, al-Khattab said the most significant achievement to date is the halt of drug production in areas that saw extensive activity in previous years. Remaining quantities of narcotics found inside export-ready goods, he explained, all originate from pre-2024 production cycles.
Investigations uncovered Captagon tablets concealed in numerous shipments prepared for export, all of which were seized. The majority of the millions of confiscated tablets fell into this category.
The Minister said joint operations between ports, airports, and border crossings have been activated to ensure rigorous inspection of goods prior to export, noting that enforcement efforts are intensifying.
Tracing the evolution of drug-control efforts, al-Khattab said the work began in 2017 with the establishment of a dedicated file, followed by extensive operations—including cooperation with Turkish authorities.
Upon his arrival in Damascus, he said, the Drug Control Administration was reactivated. Although it previously existed within the Interior Ministry, it had little authority due to the involvement of influential figures from the former regime—chief among them the Fourth Division—in sponsoring smuggling and manufacturing operations.
The Ministry began strengthening the administration “from the first days of liberation,” he said, adding new personnel and organizing training courses to integrate them, given the widespread nature of drug production across Syrian provinces.
Efforts focused on Rural Damascus and Homs, near the Lebanese border, where numerous operational laboratories were uncovered.
According to al-Khattab, more than 14 drug-production laboratories have been dismantled, and approximately 365 million Captagon tablets have been seized to date—quantities he described as “massive,” with severe consequences for neighboring countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, the primary target of the smuggling networks.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
