Syrian Drug Wars: Growing Tide of Illegal Narcotics Floods Syria

Fighting a pitched battle against Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) terrorists, the Syrian government is also facing a dangerous and insidious foe as drug trafficking gangs seek to capitalize on the chaos sown in the country during years of bloody conflict.

According to official Syrian Interior Ministry statistics, in 2016 the authorities confiscated 2,433 drug shipments and made 3,160 arrests on charges of drug distribution and possession.

Syrian police seized a total of 267kg of hash, 28kg of heroin, 11kg of cocaine, 180kg of marijuana seeds, 500kg of marijuana, 65,943 psychotropic drug pills, over 6 million Captagon pills and 1 ton of chemicals used for drug manufacturing.

A source in the interior ministry told Sputnik Arabic that during 2013 and 2014 the authorities have arrested members from some 40 drug trafficking gangs. He added that 1,000 people were arrested for drug distribution as the criminals actively seek to increase their ‘customer base’ among the locals, and that the authorities have managed to identify some 2,000 drug addicts – most of them residents of Damascus and Aleppo.

According to the source, at this time the most widespread illegal drug in Syria is fenethylline, a codrug of amphetamine and theophylline marketed for use as a psychostimulant under the brand names Captagon, Biocapton, and Fitton.

This drug is "extremely popular among the militants", as Syrian government troops often find significant quantities of Captagon pills in "areas liberated from terrorists", the source added.