Syria seized 60kg of cannabis on the border with Lebanon late on Wednesday, as authorities seek to tackle drug smuggling.
"The narcotics were going to be smuggled into Syrian territory at the Lebanese border in the area of Nabek, in the village of Flita," Syria's Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The operation involved an "exchange of fire" between security forces and drug smugglers, who fled back into Lebanese border areas, the ministry said. An investigation is under way to identify those involved and ensure legal action is taken against them, it added.
Experts warned that, despite the downfall of former president Bashar Al Assad's regime, Syria remains vulnerable to the influence of illicit drug networks, causing instability within the country and beyond its borders.
Captagon is one of the most popular recreational drugs among young people in the Middle East and has flooded the region. After the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, millions of Captagon pills were produced under Mr Al Assad's regime and shipped to neighbouring countries, accounting for 80 per cent of global production, the New Lines Institute in Washington said. The worldwide Captagon market is worth about $10 billion a year.
Despite tonnes of drugs being seized, Captagon pills have been smuggled into countries including Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The drugs were a vital source of funds for the heavily sanctioned Assad regime.
