Party Drug Kept Syria’s Assad In Power (Worthy News Investigation)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

DAMASCUS (Worthy News) – Islamic rebels have uncovered a multi-multi-billion dollar drug empire that kept former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime alive despite crippling international sanctions.

Several videos have come out of Syria, alleging that they were storages where massive amounts of Captagon were being stashed by Maher al-Assad, the dictator’s brother who led the Syrian army’s elite 4th Armoured Division and whose whereabouts remain unclear.

Storage facilities for Captagon, a party drug seen as “the poor man’s cocaine,” were found in military headquarters near Damascus, where ex-president Assad’s brother, Maher, was in power.

The brother reportedly led the Syrian army’s elite 4th Armoured Division, but his whereabouts remained unclear on Thursday.

Video footage reviewed by Worthy News showed entering what looks like a mansion used as a factory to manufacture the drug. It is “one of the largest storage facilities for Captagon,” said a voiceover in the video, while stacks of pills could be seen, as well as equipment to make the drug. Earlier this week, Saudi media reported the discovery of thousands of Captagon pills at an air base south of Damascus.

In other footage, people were reportedly seen destroying thousands of Captagon pills.

Captagon, also known as fenethylline, was initially developed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients. However, the pill proved to be too addictive and was banned by the World Health Organization, experts said.

LOW STREET VALUE

With a relatively low street value and alleged effects such as “more energy,” “better stamina in bed,” and “less appetite,” Captagon became the Middle East’s most popular party drug.

The pill is especially popular in Saudi Arabia’s nightlife, to the frustration of the strict Islamic authorities, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The Syrian regime and its allies increasingly embraced the production and trade of Captagon to generate hard currency, estimated by some to be worth billions of dollars, the U.S. Treasury Department said last year. “Syria has become a global leader in the production of highly addictive Captagon, much of which is trafficked through Lebanon,” added Andrea M. Gacki, the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

“With our allies, we will hold accountable those who support Bashar al-Assad’s regime with illicit drug revenue and other financial means that enable the regime’s continued repression of the Syrian people,” Gacki warned last year in a statement obtained by Worthy News.

At the time, the U.S. imposed sanctions on, among others, Assad’s cousin for his alleged involvement in the captagon trade. Those sanctions also targeted a close associate of Maher al-Assad, Assad’s brother, in whose military base Captagon was produced. Syrian Captagon has also been intercepted in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, from containers shipped from areas under Assad’s control, Dutch daily De Telegraaf (The Telegraph) recalled Thursday.

The annual trade of the party drug is estimated at billions of dollars. The Middle East Institute reported that nearly $6 billion worth of Syrian-made Captagon was seized abroad in 2021.

It underscored U.S. suspicions that the had become a crucial economic lifeline for Assad before he was eventually toppled over the weekend.

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